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STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

EOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 


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UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 


Left  behind  at  Winterbine. 


THE  STORY  OF 
THE  SOIL 

From  the  Basis  of  Absolute  Science 
and  Real  Life 

BY 

CYRIL  G.  HOPKINS 

Author  of  "Soil  Fertility  and  Permanent  Agriculture" 


Sixth  Revised  Edition 


BOSTON:    RICHARD  G.  BADGER 
TORONTO:   THE  COPP  CLARK  co.,  LIMITED 


53634 


Copyright,  1911  and  1918,  by  Richard  G.  Badger 


All  Rights  Reserved, 


TOT  GOBHAM  FBUS.  Borrou,  U.  S.  A. 


u 


TO  MY  WIFE 


*..! 


PREFACE 

Truth  is  better  than  fiction ;  and  this  true  story  of  the 
V  soil  is  written  in  co-operation  with  the  Press  of  America 
and  in  competition  with  popular  fiction. 

The  scenes  described  exist;  the  references  given  can  all 
**}  be  found  and  verified;  and  the  data  quoted  are  exact,  al- 
x    though  some  of  the  story  dates  antedate  the  scientific 
v  data. 

^i       As  a  rule  the  names  employed  are  substitutes,  but  the 
^  general  localities  are  as  specified. 

If  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL  should  ever  fall  into  the 
\i 

v^  hands  of  any  individual  who  suspects  that  he  has  con- 

^j   tributed  to  its  information,  the  author  begs  that  he  will 

\1   accept  as  belonging  to  himself  every  gracious  attribute 

|^    and  take  it  for  granted  that  anything  of  opposite  savor 

was  due  to  autosuggestion. 

CYRIL  G.  HOPKINS. 
University  of  Illinois, 
Urbana. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  The  Old  South      ........  13 

II  Forty  Acres  in  the  Corn  Belt                      .  16 

III  Lincoln's  View  of  Agriculture    ....  20 

IV  Life's     Choice 27 

V  Worn-Out     Farms 30 

VI  The  Musicale 35 

VII  A  Bit  of  History 39 

VIII  Westover 42 

IX  The  Black   Peril 53 

X  The   Slave   and   the   Freedman    ....  58 

XI  Judgment  is  Come 65 

XII  The    Restoration 68 

XIII  Why  Percy  Went  to  College  .....  79 

XIV  A  Lesson  in  Farm  Science    ...      .      .      .  82 

XV  Coeducation 102 

XVI  Past  Self-Redemption 115 

XVII  More     Problems 120 

XVIII  Closer  to  Mother  Earth 132 

XIX  From  Richmond  to  Washington   .      .      .      .144 

XX  A  Lesson  in  Optimism 147 

XXI  In  the  Office  of  the  Chief 150 

XXII  The  Chemist's  Laboratory 158 

XXIII  Mathematics  Applied  to   Farming     .      .      .  162 

XXIV  The  Nation's  Capital 166 

XXV  A  Lesson  on  Tobacco 174 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXVI     Another  Lesson  on  Tobacco 180 

XXVII     Eighteen  to  One 185 

XXVIII     Farmer  or  Professor 191 

XXIX     The   Ultimate    Comparison £00 

XXX     "Stone    Soup" 221 

XXXI     Theories  Versus  Facts 233 

XXXII     Guessing    and    Gassing 239 

XXXIII  The  Diagnosis  and  Prescription  ....   254 

XXXIV  Planning  for  Life 260 

XXXV     Sealed    Lips 274 

XXXVI     Hard    Times 277 

XXXVII     Harder   Times 285 

XXXVIII     An   Awakening  Dream 307 

XXXIX     Honey  Without  Wax 311 

XL     Inspiration         313 

XLI     The     Kindergarten 318 

XLII     Advance  Information 340 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Left  Behind  at  Winterbine Frontispiece 

PAGE 
Millet  in  Pot  Cultures 106 

One  pot  with  no  plant  food  and  one  with  all  of  the 
essential  elements  provided,  and  still  others  with 
but  one  element  lacking;  all  planted  the  same  day 
and  cared  for  alike .  .  .108 

Corn  on  peaty  swamp  land,  yielding  45  bushels  per 
acre  where  potassium  was  applied,  but  complete 
failure  on  the  untreated  plot 110 

Tubercles  about  as  large  as  peas  on  the  roots  of  the  cow- 
pea;  one  tubercle  may  contain  a  million  germs  .  .  206 

A  world  of  work  and  11  bushels  of  oats  per  acre  .      .      .   282 

"  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  untreated  check  strips — 

no  clover  and  only  half  a  ton  of  weedy  grass  "  .      .    340 

"But  I  cut  where  it  yielded  2  tons  per  acre"  .      .      .   342 
"  We  are  selling  some  cows   this  fall " 344 

Limestone  and  raw  rock  phosphate  make  the  difference 

between  clover  and  no  clover  .  .    346 


The  Story  of  the  Soil 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  OLD  SOUTH 

PERCY  JOHNSTON  stood  waiting  on  the  broad  ve- 
randa of  an  old-style  Southern  home,  on  a  bright 
November  day  in  1903.  He  had  just  come  from 
Blue  Mound  Station,  three  miles  away,  with  suit-case  in 
hand. 

"  Would  it  be  possible  for  me  to  secure  room  and  board 
here  for  a  few  days  ?  "  he  inquired  of  the  elderly  woman 
who  answered  his  knock. 

"  Would  it  be  possible?  "  she  repeated,  apparently  ask- 
ing herself  the  question,  while  she  scanned  the  face  of  her 
visitor  with  kindly  eyes  that  seemed  to  look  beneath  the 
surface. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  my  name  is  Johnston, — Percy 
Johnston — "  he  said  with  some  embarrassment  and  hesi- 
tation, realizing  from  her  speech  and  manner  that  he  was 
not  addressing  a  servant. 

"  No  pardon  is  needed  for  that  name,"  she  interrupted ; 
"  Johnston  is  a  name  we're  mighty  proud  of  here  in  the 
South." 

"  But  I  am  from  the  West,"  he  said. 

"We're  proud  of  the  West,  too;  and  you  should  feel 
right  welcome  here,  for  this  is  '  Westover,'  "  waving  her 
hand  toward  the  broad  fields  surrounding  the  old  mansion 
house.  "  I  am  Mrs.  West,  or  at  least  I  used  to  be.  Per- 


14  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

haps  the  title  better  belongs  to  my  son's  wife  at  the  present 
time;  while  I  am  mother,  grandma,  and  great-grand- 
mother. 

"  Yes,  Sir,  you  will  be  very  welcome  to  share  our  home 
for  a  few  days  if  you  wish;  and  we'll  take  you  as  a 
boarder.  We  used  to  entertain  my  husband's  friends  from 
Richmond, —  and  from  Washington,  too,  before  the  six- 
ties ;  but  since  then  we  have  grown  poor,  and  of  late  years 
we  take  some  summer  boarders.  They  have  all  returned 
to  the  city,  however,  the  last  of  them  having  left  only 
yesterday;  so  you  can  have  as  many  rooms  as  you  like. 

*'  Adelaide !  "  she  called. 

A  rugged  girl  of  seventeen  entered  the  hall  from  a  rear 
room. 

"  This  is  my  granddaughter,  Adelaide,  Mr.  Johnston." 

Percy  looked  into  her  eyes  for  an  instant;  then  her 
lashes  drooped.  He  remembered  afterward  that  they 
were  like  her  grandmother's,  and  he  found  himself  repeat- 
ing, "  The  eye  is  the  window  of  the  soul." 

"  My  Dear,  will  you  ask  Wilkes  to  show  Mr.  Johnston 
to  the  southwest  room,  and  to  put  a  fire  in  the  grate  and 
warm  water  in  the  pitcher?" 

"  Thank  you,  that  will  not  be  necessary,"  said  Percy. 
"  I  wish  to  see  and  learn  as  much  as  possible  of  the  country 
hereabout,  and  particularly  of  the  farm  lands;  and,  if  I 
may  leave  my  suit-case  to  be  sent  to  my  room  when  con- 
venient, I  shall  take  a  walk, —  perhaps  a  long  walk. 
When  should  I  be  back  to  supper?" 

"  At  six  or  half  past.  My  son  Charles  has  gone  to 
Montplain,  but  he  will  be  home  for  dinner.  He  knows  the 
lands  all  about  here  and  will  be  glad,  I  am  sure,  to  give 
you  any  information  possible." 

With  rapid  strides,  Percy  followed  the  private  lane  to 
the  open  fields  of  Westover. 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  15 

"  Is  he  a  cowboy,  Grandma?  "  asked  Adelaide,  in  a  tone 
which  did  not  suggest  a  very  high  regard  for  cowboys. 
"  Anyway,"  she  continued,  detecting  a  shade  of  disap- 
proval in  the  grandmother's  face,  "  he  has  a  cowboy's  hat, 
but  he  doesn't  wear  buckskin  trousers  or  spurs." 

Percy's  hat  was  a  relic  of  college  life.  Two  years  be- 
fore he  had  completed  the  agricultural  course  at  one  of 
the  state  universities  in  the  corn  belt.  Somewhat  above 
the  average,  in  size,  well  proportioned,  accustomed  to  the 
heaviest  farm  work,  and  trained  in  football  at  college,  he 
was  a  sturdy  young  giant, — "  strong  as  an  ox  and  quick 
as  lightning,"  in  the  exaggerated  language  of  his  football 
admirers. 


CHAPTER    II 

FOBTY  ACRES  IN  THE  COEN  BELT 

PERCY  JOHNSTON'S  grandfather  had  gone  west 
from  "  York  State  "  and  secured  from  the  federal 
government  a  160-acre  "  claim  "  of  the  rich  corn- 
belt  land.     His  father  had  received  through  inheritance 
only  40  acres  of  this ;  and,  marrying  his  choice  from  the 
choir  of  the  local  Lutheran  congregation,  he  had  farmed 
his   forty   and   an   adjoining  eighty   acres,   "  rented   on 
shares,"  for  only  three  years,  when  he  was  taken  with  pneu- 
monia from  exposure  and  overwork,  and  died  within  a 
week. 

Percy  was  scarcely  a  year  old  when  his  father  was  laid 
in  the  grave ;  but  to  the  sorrowing  mother  he  was  all  that 
life  held  dear.  Existence  seemed  possible  to  her  only  be- 
cause she  could  bestow  upon  him  her  double  affection,  and 
because  the  double  duties  which  she  took  upon  herself  com- 
pletely occupied  her  time. 

She  was  not  in  immediate  financial  need,  for  her  husband 
had  been  able  to  put  some  money  in  the  bank  during  the 
last  year,  after  having  paid  for  his  "  outfit ;"  the  forty- 
acre  farm  was  free  from  debt,  but  under  the  law  it  must 
remain  the  joint  property  of  mother  and  child  for  twenty 
years. 

Wisely  or  unwisely  she  rejected  every  opportunity  pre- 
sented that  would  have  given  Percy  a  stepfather.  As 
daughter  and  wife  she  had  learned  much  of  the  art  of 
agriculture,  and,  after  some  consultation  with  a  neighbor 
who  seemed  to  be  successful,  she  made  her  own  plans. 

16 


FORTY  ACRES  IN  THE  CORN  BELT   17 

In  her  make  up,  sentiment  was  balanced  with  sense. 
Even  as  a  young  wife  she  had  sometimes  driven  the  mower 
or  the  self-binder  to  "  help-out,"  and  she  had  found  pleas- 
ure and  health  in  such  hours  of  out-door  life.  "  I  can 
work  and  not  overwork,"  she  said  to  her  friends;  and  in 
any  case  the  crops  seemed  to  grow  better  under  the  eye  of 
the  mistress. 

Some  years  she  employed  a  neighbor  boy  or  girl,  and  al- 
ways hired  such  other  help  as  she  needed.  Prices  were 
sometimes  low  and  crops  were  not  always  good ;  and  only 
widowed  mothers  can  know  the  full  story  of  her  labor,  love 
and  sacrifice.  With  Percy's  help  he  was  sent  to  school  and 
finally  to  the  university,  choosing  for  himself  the  agri- 
cultural college,  much  to  the  surprise  and  disappointment 
of  his  devoted  mother. 

"  Why,"  she  asked,  "  why  should  my  son  go  to  college 
to  study  agriculture?  Have  you  not  studied  farming 
in  the  practical  school  of  experience  all  your  life  ?  Surely 
we  have  done  as  much  as  could  be  done  on  our  own  little 
farm;  and  you  have  also  had  the  benefit  of  the  longer  ex- 
perience of  our  best  farmers  hereabout,  and  of  the  accu- 
mulated wisdom  of  our  ancestors.  Oh,  I  had  hoped  and 
truly  believed  that  you  would  become  interested  in  engi- 
neering, or  in  medicine,  or  may  be  in  the  law.  I  cannot 
understand  why  you  should  think  of  going  to  college  to 
study  farming.  Surely  you  already  know  more  than  the 
college  professors  do  about  agriculture." 

Percy's  mother  had  too  much  good  sense  to  have  raised 
a  spoiled  boy.  He  had  been  taught  to  work  and  to  think 
for  himself.  She  loved  her  boy  far  better  than  her  own 
life, —  loved  as  only  a  widowed  mother  can  who  has  risked 
her  life  for  him,  and  who  has  given  to  him  all  her  thought 
and  all  her  energy  from  the  best  twenty  years  of  her  own 
life;  but  she  had  never  let  herself  enjoy  that  kind  of  self- 


18  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ishness  which  prompts  a  mother  to  do  for  her  child  what 
he  should  be  taught  to  do  for  himself.  Despite  his  natural 
love  of  sport  and  the  severe  trials  he  had  often  brought  to 
her  patience  and  perseverance  during  his  boyhood  days, 
he  had  reached  a  development  with  the  advance  of  youth 
that  satisfied  her  high  ideal.  His  love  and  appreciation 
and  tender  care  for  her  repaid  her  every  day,  she  told  her- 
self, for  all  the  years  of  watching,  working,  waiting. 
Never  before  had  he  withstood  her  positive  wish  and  final 
judgment. 

And  yet  it  was  she  who  had  told  him  that  he  alone  must 
choose  his  life  work  and  his  college  course  in  preparation 
for  that  work;  but,  after  the  years  of  toil,  she  had  not 
dreamed  that  he  would  choose  the  farm  life. 

"  My  darling  boy,"  she  continued,  "  it  leads  to  nothing. 
This  little  farm  is  poorer  to-day  than  it  was  when  your 
dear  father  and  I  came  here  to  live  and  labor.  To  be 
sure,  the  lower  field  still  grows  as  good  or  better  crops 
than  ever ;  but  I  can  remember  when  that  field  was  so  wet 
and  swampy  that  it  could  not  be  cultivated,  and  it  was 
in  the  work  of  ditching  and  tiling  that  field,"  she  sobbed, 
"  that  your  father  took  the  sickness  that  caused  his  death." 

Tears  were  in  Percy's  eyes  as  he  put  his  arms  about  his 
mother  and  wiped  her  tears  away. 

"  But  I  must  tell  you  what  I  know  to  be  the  truth,"  she 
went  on  quickly.  "  The  older  fields  that  your  grand- 
father cultivated  are  less  productive  now  than  when  he 
received  them  from  our  generous  government.  Indeed,  it 
was  your  father's  plan  to  continue  to  farm  here  only  for  a 
few  years  longer  until  he  could  save  enough  to  enable  him, 
with  what  we  could  have  gotten  from  the  sale  of  our  own 
forty,  to  go  farther  west  and  purchase  a  large  farm  of 
virgin  soil.  He  realized,  my  Son,  that  even  that  part  of 
his  father's  farm  that  was  first  put  under  cultivation  was 


becoming  distinctly  reduced  in  productiveness.  He  re- 
membered, too,  the  stories  often  repeated  by  your  grand- 
father of  the  run-down  condition  of  the  once  exceedingly 
fertile  soils  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  other  parts  of  New 
York  State. 

"  And  you  know,  Percy,  there  were  many  Dutch  farmers 
settled  in  New  York.  They  were  probably  the  best 
farmers  among  all  who  came  to  America  from  the  Old 
World.  I  have  heard  your  grandfather  explain  their  use 
of  crop  rotation,  and  they  understood  well  the  value  of 
clover  and  farm  fertilizers.  But  with  all  of  their  skill  and 
knowledge,  the  land  grew  poor,  and  now  the  very  farm 
upon  which  Grandpa  was  born  is  not  worth  as  much  as  the 
actual  cost  of  the  farm  buildings.  I  hope  you  will  con- 
sider all  of  this.  The  farm  life  is  so  unpromising  for  you, 
and  there  are  such  great  opportunities  for  success  in  other 
lines.  Still  I  feel  that  you  must  decide  this  question  for 
yourself,  my  Son,  but  tell  me,  Why  would  you  choose  the 
life  and  work  of  a  farmer?  " 


CHAPTER   III 

LINCOLN'S  VIEW  OF  AGRICULTURE 

PERCY  had  listened  without  interrupting,  grieved  at 
her  disappointment,  and  open  to  any  reasoning  that 
might  change  his  mind. 

"  Mother  dearest,"  he  said,  "  it  was  a  year  ago  that  you 
said  I  would  have  only  till  this  fall  to  decide  upon  my  col- 
lege course  and  that  it  should  be  a  special  preparation 
for  my  life  work.  I  have  given  much  thought  to  it.  You 
said  that  I  should  choose  for  myself,  and  I  have  not  con- 
sulted much  with  others,  but  I  have  tried  to  consider  the 
matter  from  different  points  of  view. 

"  You  know  the  Christmas  present  you  gave  me  of  the 
Lincoln  books  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  know,  and  you  have  read  them  so  much.  I 
could  not  get  you  many  books,  but  I  knew  there  could  be 
nothing  better  for  my  boy  to  read  than  the  thoughts  of 
that  noble  man.  But,  Percy  dear,  Lincoln  was  a  lawyer, 
and  he  rose  from  the  lowest  walk  in  life  to  the  highest  po- 
sition in  the  country,  and  with  much  less  preparation  than 
my  own  boy  will  have.  Suppose  he  had  remained  a  farmer ! 
Surely  no  such  success  could  ever  have  been  reached.  I 
am  not  so  foolish  as  to  have  any  such  high  hopes  for  you, 
Percy ;  but  if  you  can  only  put  yourself  in  the  way  of  op- 
portunity, and  make  such  preparation  as  you  can  to  fill 
with  credit  some  position  of  responsibility  that  may  be  of- 
fered you !  I  had  truly  hoped  that  your  study  of  Lin- 
coln's life  would  influence  yours.  To  me  Lincoln  was  the 
noblest  of  all  the  noble  men  of  our  history,  and  I  doubt  not 

20 


LINCOLN'S  VIEW  OF  AGRICULTURE        21 

of  all  history,  save  Him  who  came  to  redeem  the  world." 

Percy  stepped  to  his  little  homemade  bookcase  and  took 
a  volume  from  the  Lincoln  set. 

"  May  I  read  you  some  words  of  Lincoln?  "  he  asked. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  answered  wonderingly. 

"  On  September  30th,  1859,"  said  Percy,  "  Lincoln  gave 
an  address  at  Milwaukee,  before  the  State  Agricultural  So- 
ciety of  Wisconsin ;  and  of  all  the  addresses  of  Lincoln  it 
seems  to  me  that  this  is  the  greatest,  because  it  deals  with 
the  greatest  material  problem  of  the  United  States.  I  think 
I  have  scarcely  heard  a  public  address  in  which  the  speaker 
has  not  dwelt  upon  the  fact  that  the  farmer  must  feed  and 
clothe  the  world ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  missionaries 
always  speak  of  the  famines  and  starvation  of  so  many 
people  in  India  and  other  countries.  Do  you  remember 
the  lecture  by  the  medical  missionary?  Well,  would  it  not 
be  better  to  send  agricultural  missionaries  to  India? 
Would  it  not  be  possible  for  some  one  to  teach  those  people 
how  to  raise  better  crops? 

"  I  have  read  and  reread  this  address  more  than  any 
other  in  the  Lincoln  set.  Let  me  read  you  some  of  the 
paragraphs  I  have  marked. 

"  After  making  some  introductory  remarks  about  the 
value  of  agricultural  fairs,  Lincoln  began  his  address  as 
follows : 

"  *  I  presume  I  am  not  expected  to  employ  the  time  as- 
signed me  in  the  mere  flattery  of  the  farmers  as  a  class. 
My  opinion  of  them  is  that,  in  proportion  to  numbers,  they 
are  neither  better  nor  worse  than  other  people.  In  the 
nature  of  things  they  are  more  numerous  than  any  other 
class ;  and  I  believe  there  are  really  more  attempts  at  flat- 
tering them  than  any  other,  the  reason  of  which  I  cannot 
perceive,  unless  it  be  that  they  can  cast  more  votes  than 
any  other.  On  reflection,  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  there  is 


22  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

not  cause  of  suspicion  against  you  in  selecting  me,  in  some 
sort  a  politician  and  in  no  sort  a  farmer,  to  address  you. 

"  '  But  farmers  being  the  most  numerous  class,  it  follows 
that  their  interest  is  the  largest  interest.  It  also  follows 
that  that  interest  is  most  worthy  of  all  to  be  cherished 
and  cultivated  —  that  if  there  be  inevitable  conflict  be- 
tween that  interest  and  any  other,  that  other  should 
yield. 

"  *  Again,  I  suppose  that  it  is  not  expected  of  me  to  im- 
part to  you  much  specific  information  on  agriculture. 
You  have  no  reason  to  believe,  and  do  not  believe,  that  I 
possess  it ;  if  that  were  what  you  seek  in  this  address,  any 
one  of  your  own  number  or  class  would  be  more  able  to 
furnish  it.  You,  perhaps,  do  expect  me  to  give  some  gen' 
eral  interest  to  the  occasion,  and  to  make  some  general 
suggestions  on  practical  matters.  I  shall  attempt  nothing 
more.  And  in  such  suggestions  by  me,  quite  likely  very 
little  will  be  new  to  you,  and  a  large  part  of  the  rest  will 
be  possibly  already  known  to  be  erroneous. 

" '  My  first  suggestion  is  an  inquiry  as  to  the  effect  of 
greater  thoroughness  in  all  the  departments  of  agriculture 
than  now  prevails  in  the  Northwest  —  perhaps  I  might  say 
in  America.  To  speak  entirely  within  bounds,  it  is  known 
that  fifty  bushels  of  wheat,  or  one  hundred  bushels  of  In- 
dian corn,  can  be  produced  from  an  acre.' ' 

Percy  paused :  "  You  know,  Mother,  that  our  corn  has 
averaged  some  less  than  fifty  bushels  per  acre  for  the  last 
five  years,  and,  as  you  say,  the  lower  field  has  been  much 
better  than  the  old  land ;  and  I  think  you  are  quite  right  in 
your  belief  that  as  an  average  the  land  is  growing  poorer, 
although  we  cultivate  better  than  we  used  to  do,  and  our 
seed  corn  is  of  the  best  variety  and  saved  with  much  care. 
I  wonder  why  one  soil  produces  so  much  larger  crops  than 
another.  But  let  me  read  further: 


LINCOLN'S  VIEW  OF  AGRICULTURE        23 

" '  Less  than  a  year  ago  I  saw  it  stated  that  a  man,  by 
extraordinary  care  and  labor,  had  produced  of  wheat  what 
was  equal  to  two  hundred  bushels  from  an  acre.  But  take 
fifty  of  wheat,  and  one  hundred  of  corn,  to  be  the  possi- 
bility, and  compare  it  with  the  actual  crops  of  the  country. 
Many  years  ago  I  saw  it  stated,  in  a  patent  office  report, 
that  eighteen  bushels  was  the  average  crop  throughout  the 
United  States ;  and  this  year  an  intelligent  farmer  of  Illi- 
nois assured  me  that  he  did  not  believe  the  land  harvested 
in  that  State  this  season  had  yielded  more  than  an  aver- 
age of  eight  bushels  to  the  acre;  much  was  cut,  and  then 
abandoned  as  not  worth  threshing,  and  much  was  aban- 
doned as  not  worth  cutting.'  " 

"  I  know  it  is  true,"  said  the  mother,  "  that  wheat  was 
once  very  much  grown  in  Central  and  Northern  Illinois,  but 
1859  must  have  been  an  unusually  poor  year,  for  it  was 
grown  for  twenty  years  after  that,  although  it  finally 
failed  so  completely  that  its  cultivation  has  been  practi- 
cally abandoned  in  many  sections  for  nearly  twenty  years. 
However,  the  chinch  bugs  were  a  very  important  factor  in 
discouraging  wheat  growing  and  the  land  has  been  very 
good  for  corn,  especially  since  the  tile-drainage  was  put  in ; 
but  on  the  whole  is  it  not  as  I  told  you  ?  " 

"  But  note  these  statements,"  said  Percy,  turning  again 
to  the  book : 

"  *  It  is  true  that  heretofore  we  have  had  better  crops 
with  no  better  cultivation,  but  I  believe  that  it  is  also  true 
that  the  soil  has  never  been  pushed  up  to  one-half  of  its 
capacity. 

"  *  What  would  be  the  effect  upon  the  farming  interest 
to  push  the  soil  up  to  something  near  its  full  capacity?  '  " 

"  But  what  can  he  mean?  "  said  the  mother.  "  How  can 
anyone  do  better  than  we  have  done?  We  change  our 
crops,  and  sow  clover  with  the  oats,  and  return  as  much 


24  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

as  we  can  to  the  land.  But  let  me  hear  further  what  Lin- 
coln said." 

"  Yes,  Mother,  this  is  what  he  said : 

"  *  Unquestionably  it  will  take  more  labor  to  produce 
fifty  bushels  of  wheat  from  an  acre  than  it  will  to  produce 
ten  bushels  from  the  same  acre ;  but  will  it  take  more  labor 
to  produce  fifty  bushels  from  one  acre  than  from  five  ?  Un- 
questionably thorough  cultivation  will  require  more  labor 
to  the  acre;  but  will  it  require  more  to  the  bushel?  If  it 
should  require  just  as  much  to  the  bushel,  there  are  some 
probable,  and  several  certain,  advantages  in  favor  of  the 
thorough  practice.  It  is  probable  it  would  develop  those 
unknown  causes  which  of  late  years  have  cut  down  our 
crops  below  their  former  average.  It  is  almost  certain,  I 
think,  that  by  deeper  plowing,  analysis  of  the  soils,  ex- 
periments with  manures  and  varieties  of  seeds,  observance 
of  seasons,  and  the  like,  these  causes  would  be  discovered 
and  remedied.  It  is  certain  that  thorough  cultivation 
would  spare  half,  or  more  than  half,  the  cost  of  land, 
simply  because  the  same  produce  would  be  got  from  half, 
or  from  less  than  half,  the  quantity  of  land.  This  propo- 
sition is  self-evident,  and  can  be  made  no  plainer  by  repeti- 
tions or  illustrations.  The  cost  of  land  is  a  great  item, 
even  in  new  countries,  and  it  constantly  grows  greater  and 
greater,  in  comparison  with  other  items,  as  the  country 
grows  older.' " 

Percy  paused  and  said : "  If  I  understand  correctly  these 
words  of  Lincoln,  the  land  need  not  become  poor.  But  I 
do  not  know  why  land  becomes  poor.  I  do  not  know  what 
the  soil  contains,  nor  do  I  know  what  corn  is  made  of. 
We  plow  the  ground  and  plant  the  seed  and  cultivate  and 
harvest  the  crop,  but  I  do  not  know  what  the  corn  crop,  or 
any  crop,  takes  from  the  soil.  I  want  to  learn  how  to 
analyze  the  soil  and  crop  and  to  find  out,  if  possible,  why 


LINCOLN'S  VIEW  OF  AGRICULTURE        25 

soils  become  poor,  in  order,  as  Lincoln  suggests,  that  the 
cause  may  be  discovered  and  remedied." 

"  It  may  be  that  the  college  professors  could  teach  you 
in  that  way,"  said  the  mother,  "  but  you  know  the  farm  life 
is  so  full  of  work  and  so  empty  of  mental  culture." 

"  I  used  to  think  so,  too,"  said  Percy,  "  but  I  fear  we 
have  worked  too  much  with  our  hands  and  too  little  with 
our  minds ;  that  we  have  done  much  work  in  blindness  as 
to  the  actual  causes  that  control  our  crop  yields ;  and  that 
we  have  not  found  the  mental  culture  that  may  be  found  in 
the  farm  life.  Let  me  read  again.  These  are  Lincoln's 
words : 

"  *  No  other  human  occupation  opens  so  wide  a  field  for 
the  profitable  and  agreeable  combination  of  labor  with 
cultivated  thought,  as  agriculture.  I  know  nothing  so 
pleasant  to  the  mind  as  the  discovery  of  anything  that  is 
at  once  new  and  valuable  —  nothing  that  so  lightens  and 
sweetens  toil  as  the  hopeful  pursuit  of  such  discovery.  And 
how  vast  and  how  varied  a  field  is  agriculture  for  such  dis- 
covery !  The  mind,  already  trained  to  thought  in  the 
country  school,  or  higher  school,  cannot  fail  to  find  there 
an  exhaustless  source  of  enjoyment.  Every  blade  of  grass 
is  a  study ;  and  to  produce  two  where  there  was  but  one  is 
both  a  profit  and  a  pleasure.  And  not  grass  alone,  but 
soils,  seeds,  and  seasons  —  hedges,  ditches,  and  fences  — 
draining,  droughts,  and  irrigation  —  plowing,  hoeing,  and 
harrowing  —  reaping,  mowing,  and  threshing  —  saving 
crops,  pests  of  crops,  diseases  of  crops,  and  what  will  pre- 
vent or  cure  them  —  implements,  utensils,  and  machines, 
their  relative  merits,  and  how  to  improve  them  —  hogs, 
horses  and  cattle  —  sheep,  goats,  and  poultry  —  trees 
shrubs,  fruits,  plants,  and  flowers  —  the  thousand  things 
of  which  these  are  specimens  —  each  a  world  of  study 
within  itself. 


26  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  *  In  all  this  book  learning  is  available.  A  capacity 
and  taste  for  reading  gives  access  to  whatever  has  already 
been  discovered  by  others.  It  is  the  key,  or  one  of  the 
keys,  to  the  already  solved  problems.  And  not  only  so ;  it 
gives  a  relish  and  facility  for  successfully  pursuing  the  un- 
solved ones.  The  rudiments  of  science  are  available,  and 
highly  available.  Some  knowledge  of  botany  assists  in 
dealing  with  the  vegetable  world  —  with  all  growing  crops. 
Chemistry  assists  in  the  analysis  of  soils,  selection  and  ap- 
plication of  manures,  and  in  numerous  other  ways.  The 
mechanical  branches  of  natural  philosophy  are  ready  help 
in  almost  everything,  but  especially  in  reference  to  imple- 
ments and  machinery. 

"  *  The  thought  recurs  that  education  —  cultivated 
thought  —  can  best  be  combined  with  agricultural  labor, 
on  the  principle  of  thorough  work;  that  careless,  half- 
performed,  slovenly  work  makes  no  place  for  such  combi- 
nation; and  thorough  work,  again,  renders  sufficient  the 
smallest  quantity  of  ground  to  each  man ;  and  this,  again, 
conforms  to  what  must  occur  in  a  world  less  inclined  to 
wars  and  more  devoted  to  the  arts  of  peace,  than  hereto- 
fore. Population  must  increase  rapidly,  more  rapidly 
than  in  former  times,  and  ere  long  the  most  valuable  of  all 
arts  will  be  the  art  of  deriving  a  comfortable  subsistence 
from  the  smallest  area  of  soil.  No  community  whose  every 
member  possesses  this  art,  can  ever  be  the  victim  of  op- 
pression in  any  of  its  forms.  Such  community  will  be 
alike  independent  of  crowned  kings,  money  kings,  and  land 
kings.'  " 


CHAPTER   IV 

LIFE'S  CHOICE 

PERCY  read  these  words  as  though  they  were  his 
own;  and  perhaps  we  may  say  they  were  his  own, 
for,  as  Emerson  says :  "  Thought  is  the  property 
of  him  who  can  entertain  it." 

The  mother  listened,  first  with  wonder;  then  with  deep- 
ened interest,  which  changed  to  admiration  for  the  lan- 
guage and  for  her  son,  who  seemed  to  be  filled  with  the 
spirit  which  had  led  Lincoln  to  see  the  problems  and  the 
possibilities  of  the  farm  life  in  a  light  that  was  wholly 
new. 

"  Surely  those  are  noble  thoughts,"  she  said,  "  from  a 
noble  and  wise  man.  I  shall  only  hope  that  you  will  find 
some  opportunity  to  make  the  best  possible  of  your  life. 
We  have  such  a  small  farm,  and  the  land  hereabout  is  all 
so  high  in  price  that  to  enlarge  the  farm  seems  almost 
hopeless.  In  part  because  of  this  difficulty  it  had  seemed 
to  me  that  greater  opportunities  might  be  open  for  you 
in  other  lines.  Don't  you  feel  that  you  will  be  greatly 
handicapped  in  the  beginning?  " 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Percy,  "  in  some  ways ;  but  not  in 
other  ways.  We  hear  on  every  hand  that  this  is  an  age 
of  specialists,  that  the  most  successful  man  cannot  take 
time  to  prepare  himself  well  for  many  different  lines  of 
work;  that  he  must  make  the  best  possible  preparation 
in  some  one  line  for  which  he  may  have  special  talent  or 
special  interest;  and  then  endeavor  to  go  farther  in  that 
line  than  any  one  has  gone  before.  When  I  first  wrote  to 
the  State  University  I  asked  how  long  a  time  would  likely 

27 


28  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

be  required  for  me  to  complete  all  the  subjects  that  are 
taught  there,  and  the  registrar  replied  that,  if  I  could 
carry  heavy  work  every  year,  I  might  hope  to  take  all  the 
courses  now  offered  in  about  seventy  years.  In  consider- 
ing this  point  of  preparation  for  future  work,  it  has 
seemed  to  me  that  if  I  leave  the  farm  life  and  devote  my- 
self to  law  or  to  engineering,  I  must  in  large  measure 
sacrifice  about  ten  years  of  valuable  experience  in  practi- 
cal agriculture.  I  have  learned  enough  about  farming  so 
that  I  can  manage  almost  as  well  as  the  neighbors;  and 
without  this  knowledge,  gathered,  as  you  say,  in  the  school 
of  experience,  I  can  see  that  serious  mistakes  would  often 
be  made. 

"You  know  that  Doctor  Miller  bought  the  Bronson 
farm  two  years  ago.  Well,  he  has  been  giving  some 
directions  himself  concerning  its  management.  He  has 
had  no  experience  in  farming,  and  last  year,  after  he  had 
the  new  barn  built,  he  directed  his  men  to  put  the  sheaf 
oats  in  the  barn  so  they  would  be  safe  from  the  weather. 
He  did  not  understand  that  oats  must  stand  in  the  shock 
for  two  or  three  weeks  to  become  thoroughly  *  cured ' 
before  they  can  safely  be  even  stacked  out  of  doors ;  and 
the  result  was  that  his  entire  oat  crop  rotted  in  the  barn. 

"  People  who  have  lived  always  in  the  city  sometimes 
express  the  most  amusing  opinions  of  farm  conditions 
so  well  understood  even  by  a  ten-year-old  country  boy. 
I  recently  overheard  two  traveling  men  remarking  about 
the  differences  which  they  could  plainly  observe  between 
the  corn  crops  in  different  fields  as  they  rode  past  in  the 
train. 

"  *  Some  fields  have  twice  as  good  corn  as  other  adjoin- 
ing fields,'  one  remarked.  '  How  do  you  account  for  the 
difference?'  asked  the  other.  *  Oh,  I  suppose  the  one 
farmer  was  too  stingy  of  his  seed,'  was  the  reply. 


LIFE'S  CHOICE  29 

"  I  am  convinced  that  there  are  hundreds  or  perhaps 
thousands  of  valuable  facts  that  have  been  acquired 
through  experience  and  observation  by  the  average  farm 
boy  of  eighteen  or  twenty  years  that  would  be  of  little  or 
no  value  to  him  in  most  other  occupations ;  and  in  this 
respect  I  should  be  handicapped  if  I  leave  the  farm  life 
and  begin  wholly  at  the  bottom  in  some  other  profession. 
Perhaps  agriculture  is  not  a  profession,  but  I  think  it 
should  be  if  the  highest  success  is  to  be  attained." 

"  I  surely  hope  you  will  be  successful,  Percy,  and  your 
reasoning  sounds  all  right;  but  other  occupations  seem  to 
lead  to  greater  wealth  than  farming." 

"  I  very  much  doubt,"  replied  Percy,  "  if  there  is  any 
other  occupation  that  is  so  uniformly  successful  as  farming, 
in  these  newer  States.  It  provides  constant  employment,  a 
good  living,  and  a  comfortable  home  for  nearly  all  who 
engage  in  it ;  and  as  a  rule  they  have  made  no  such  prepa- 
ration as  is  required  for  most  other  lines  of  work. 

"  But  there  is  still  another  side  to  the  farm  life,  Mother 
dear,  or  to  any  life  for  that  matter.  Your  own  life  has 
taught  me  that  to  work  for  the  love  of  others  is  a  motive 
which  directs  the  noblest  lives.  If  agricultural  missionar- 
ies are  needed  in  India,  they  are  also  needed  in  parts  of 
our  own  country  where  farm  lands  that  were  once  product- 
ive are  now  greatly  depleted  and  in  some  cases  even  aban- 
doned for  farming ;  and,  if  the  older  lands  of  the  corn  belt 
are  already  showing  a  decrease  in  productive  power,  we 
need  the  missionary  even  here.  If  I  can  learn  how  to  make 
land  richer  and  richer  and  lead  others  to  follow  such  a 
system,  I  should  find  much  satisfaction  in  the  effort." 


CHAPTER   V 
WOBN-OUT  FARMS 

"^  TT  TELL,  you  found  some  mighty  poor  land,  I 
\/  \/     reckon,"  was   the  greeting  Percy  received 
from  Grandma  West  as  he  returned  from  his 
walk  over  Westover  and  some  neighboring  farms. 

"  I  found  some  land  that  produces  very  poor  crops,"  he 
replied,  "  but  I  don't  know  yet  whether  I  should  say  that 
the  land  is  poor." 

"  Well,  I  know  it's  about  as  poor  as  poor  can  be ;  but  it 
was  not  always  poor,  I  can  tell  you.  When  I  was  a  girl, 
if  this  farm  did  not  produce  five  or  six  thousand  bushels 
of  wheat,  we  thought  it  a  poor  crop ;  but  now,  if  we  get 
five  or  six  hundred  bushels,  we  think  we  are  doing 
pretty  well.  My  husband's  father  paid  sixty-eight  dollars 
an  acre  for  some  of  this  land,  and  it  was  worth  more  than 
that  a  few  years  later ;  and,  mind  you,  in  those  days  wheat 
was  worth  less  and  niggers  a  mighty  sight  more  than  they 
are  nowadays ;  but,  somehow,  the  land  has  just  grown  poor. 
We  don't  know  how.  We  have  worked  hard,  and  we  have 
kept  as  much  stock  as  we  could,  but  we  could  never  produce 
enough  fertilizer  on  the  farm  to  go  very  far  on  a  thousand 
acres. 

"  Yes,  Sir,  we  have  just  about  a  thousand  acres  here  and 
we  still  own  it, —  and  with  no  mortgage  on  it,  I'm  mighty 
glad  to  say.  But,  laws,  the  land  is  poor,  and  you  can  get 
all  the  land  you  want  here  for  ten  dollars  an  acre.  There 
comes  Charles,  now.  He  can  tell  you  all  about  this  country 
for  more  than  twenty  miles,  I  reckon. 

30 


WORN-OUT  FARMS  31 

'*  Wilkes ! "  A  negro  servant  answered  the  call,  and 
took  the  horse  as  Charles  West  stopped  at  the  side  gate. 

"  Wilkes  was  born  here  in  slave  times,  nigh  sixty  years 
ago,"  she  continued.  "  He  is  three  years  older  than  my 
son  Charles.  He  has  remained  with  us  ever  since  the  war, 
except  for  a  few  months  when  he  went  away  one  time  just 
to  see  for  sure  that  he  was  free  and  could  go.  But  he  came 
back  mighty  homesick  and  he'll  want  to  stay  here  till  he 
dies,  I  reckon. 

"  Charles,  this  is  Mr.  Johnston,  Percy  Johnston,  as  he 
says ;  but  he  thinks  he  is  no  kin  of  General  Joe  or  Albert 
Sidney.  He's  been  looking  at  the  land  hereabout,  but  I 
don't  think  he'll  want  any  of  it  after  seeing  the  kind  of 
crops  we  raise." 

With  this  introduction,  the  mother  disappeared  within 
the  house,  and  Charles  took  her  seat  on  the  vine-covered 
veranda. 

"  I  feel  that  I  owe  an  apology  to  you,  Sir,"  said  Percy, 
"  for  presenting  myself  here  with  bag  and  baggage,  and 
asking  to  share  the  hospitality  of  your  home,  with  no 
previous  arrangements  having  been  made ;  but  by  chance 
I  met  your  friend,  Doctor  Goddard,  on  the  train,  and,  in 
answer  to  my  inquiry  as  to  whom  I  could  go  to  for  correct 
information  concerning  the  history  and  present  condition 
and  value  of  farm  lands  in  this  section  of  the  country,  he 
advised  me  to  stop  off  at  Blue  Mound  Station  and  con- 
sult with  you.  Had  I  known  that  you  were  to  be  in  Mont- 
plain  to-day,  of  course  I  should  have  gone  directly  there. 
Your  mother  very  graciously  consented  to  receive  me  as 
a  belated  summer  boarder,  a  kindness  which  I  greatly  ap- 
preciate, I  assure  you. 

"  My  mother  and  I  have  a  small  farm  in  Illinois, —  so 
small  that  it  would  be  lost  in  such  an  estate  as  Westover, 
but  the  price  of  land  is  very  high  in  the  West  at  the  present 


32  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

time;  and  I  am  really  considering  the  question  of  selling 
our  little  forty-acre  farm  and  purchasing  two  or  three 
hundred  acres  in  the  East  or  South.  My  thought  is  that 
I  might  secure  a  farm  that  was  once  good  land,  but  that 
has  been  run  down  to  such  an  extent  that  it  can  be  bought 
for  perhaps  ten  or  twenty  dollars  an  acre.  I  should  want 
the  land  to  be  nearly  level  so  that  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  prevent  damage  from  surface  washing.  I  should  pre- 
fer, of  course,  to  purchase  where  there  is  a  good  road  and 
not  more  than  five  miles  from  a  railway  station. 

"  If  I  secure  such  a  farm,  it  would  be  my  purpose  to 
restore  its  fertility.  If  possible  I  should  want  to  make 
the  land  at  least  as  productive  as  it  ever  was,  even  in  its 
virgin  state." 

"  Well,  Sir,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  if  you  could  accomplish 
your  purpose  and  ultimately  show  a  balance  on  the  right 
side  of  the  ledger,  it  would  be  a  work  of  very  great  value 
to  this  country.  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  securing 
such  land  as  you  want  with  location  and  price  to  suit  you ; 
but  I  think  that  you  should  know  in  advance  that  older 
men  than  you  have  purchased  farms  hereabout  with  very 
similar  intentions,  but  with  the  ultimate  result  that  they 
have  lost  more,  financially,  than  we  who  are  native  to  the 
soil;  for,  while  we  were  once  well-to-do  and  are  now  poor, 
we  still  own  our  land,  impoverished  as  it  is.  However, 
the  farm  still  furnishes  us  a  comfortable  living,  supple- 
mented, to  be  sure,  with  some  income  from  other  sources. 

"  I  am  very  willing  to  give  as  much  information  as  I 
can  regarding  our  lands  and  the  agricultural  conditions 
and  common  practices,  although  I  fear  that  this  knowledge 
will  discourage  you  from  making  any  investments  in 
our  worn-out  farms.  If  you  still  decide  to  make  the  trial, 
I  surely  hope  you  will  be  successful,  for  we  need  such  an 
object  lesson  above  all  else. 


WORN-OUT  FARMS  33 

"  I  assume  that  you  will  wish  to  locate  near  a  town  of 
considerable  size,  in  order  that  you  can  haul  manures 
from  town,  and  perhaps  some  feed  also ;  and  have  a  good 
market  for  your  milk  and  other  products." 

"  No,  Sir,"  said  Percy,  "  I  should  prefer  not  to  engage 
in  dairying,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  make  use  of  fertilizer 
made  from  my  neighbors'  crops.  We  have  some  object 
lessons  of  that  kind  in  my  own  state ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  some  can  be  found  in  this  state  who  feed  all  they  pro- 
duce on  their  own  land  and  perhaps  even  larger  amounts 
of  feed  purchased  from  their  neighbors,  or  hauled  from 
town,  and  who,  in  addition  to  using  all  the  farm  fertilizer 
thus  produced,  haul  considerable  amounts  of  such  mate- 
rials from  the  livery  stables  in  town.  With  much  hard 
work,  with  a  good  market  for  the  products  of  the  dairy  and 
truck  garden,  and  with  business  skill  in  purchasing  feed 
from  their  neighbors  when  prices  are  low,  such  men  suc- 
ceed as  individuals;  but  do  they  furnish  an  object  lesson 
which  could  be  followed  by  the  general  farmer?  " 

"  I  had  not  looked  at  the  matter  from  that  point  of 
view,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  but  it  is  plain  to  see  that  on  the 
whole  there  can  be  only  a  small  percentage  of  such  farmers ; 
and  in  reality  they  are  a  detriment  to  their  neighbors  who 
permit  their  own  hay  and  grain  to  be  hauled  off  from  their 
farms;  but  certainly  these  are  the  methods  followed  by 
our  most  successful  farmers,  and  these  are  they  who  live 
on  the  fat  of  the  land." 

"Are  they  farmers  or  are  they  manufacturers?  "  asked 
Percy.  "  It  seems  to  me  that,  in  large  measure,  their 
business  is  to  manufacture  a  finished  product  from  the 
raw  materials  produced  upon  other  farms,  either  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  or  in  the  newer  regions  of  the 
West.  As  you  know,  much  of  our  surplus*  produce  from 
the  farms  of  the  corn  belt  is  shipped  into  the  eastern  and 


34.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

southern  states,  there  to  be  used  as  food  for  man  and  beast, 
not  only  in  the  cities,  but  also  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
the  country.  Instead  of  living  on  the  fat  of  the  land, 
such  manufacturers  live  in  the  country  at  the  expense  of 
special  city  customers  who  may  have  fat  jobs  and  are 
able  to  pay  fancy  prices  for  country  produce  made  by  the 
impoverishment  of  many  farms.  In  most  cases,  if  such  a 
'  successful  farmer '  were  compelled  to  pay  average  prices 
for  what  he  buys  and  allowed  to  receive  only  average 
prices  for  what  he  sells,  his  fat  would  have  plenty  of  lean 
streaks." 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  MUSICALS 

DINNER  was  served  at  the  family  table,  with  Mr. 
West  at  the  head  and  his  mother  at  the  foot. 
"  The  eye  is  the  window  of  the  soul,"  thought 
Percy,  as  he  met  the  glance  of  Adelaide  sitting  opposite. 
Certain  he  was  that  he  had  never  before  looked  into  such 
alluring  eyes. 

Adelaide  was  neither  a  girl  nor  a  woman  and  yet  at 
times  she  was  both.  With  the  other  children  she  was  a 
child  who  still  loved  to  romp  and  play  with  the  rest,  free 
as  a  bird.  Her  mother,  a  sweet-faced  woman,  some  years 
her  husband's  junior,  made  sisters  of  all  her  daughters, 
the  more  naturally,  perhaps,  because  the  grandmother  was 
still  so  active  and  so  interested  in  all  phases  of  homemaking 
that  she  seemed  mother  to  them  all.  Adelaide's  two  older 
sisters  were  married  and  her  brother  Charles,  also  older 
than  herself,  by  three  years,  was  a  senior  in  college.  Ade- 
laide had  just  finished  her  course  in  the  Academy  where  the 
long  service  of  a  maiden  aunt  as  a  teacher  had  secured 
certain  appreciated  privileges,  without  which  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  both  Charles  and  Adelaide  could  have  been  sent  away 
to  school  at  the  same  time.  A  boy  of  fourteen  and  the 
eight-year-old  baby  brother,  with  two  sisters  between,  com- 
prised the  younger  members  of  the  family. 

Miss  Bowman,  the  teacher  of  the  district  school,  also  oc- 
cupied a  place  at  the  table.  The  evening  meal  was  dis- 
posed of  without  delay,  for  there  was  something  of  greater 
importance  to  follow.  A  musicale  in  the  near-by  country 
church  had  been  in  preparation  and  Percy  heartily  ac- 

35 


36  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

cepted  an  invitation  to  accompany  the  family  to  the  even- 
ing's entertainment.  Or  rather  he  accompanied  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  West  and  the  grandmother,  for  all  the  children  had 
walked  the  distance  before  the  carriage  arrived. 

Without  having  specialized  in  music,  nevertheless  Percy 
had  improved  the  frequent  opportunities  he  had  had,  es- 
pecially while  at  the  university,  and  he  had  learned  to  ap- 
preciate quality  in  the  musical  world.  Consequently  he 
was  not  a  little  surprised  and  greatly  pleased  to  sit  and 
listen  to  a  class  of  music  that  he  had  never  before  heard 
rendered  in  country  places;  but,  as  he  listened  for  Ade- 
laide's singing  in  chorus,  duet,  and  solo,  he  found  himself 
wondering  whether  the  eye  or  the  voice  more  clearly  re- 
vealed the  soul. 

"  It  seemed  like  the  old  times,"  said  the  grandmother, 
with  something  like  a  sigh,  as  she  took  her  place  in  the  car- 
riage. "  If  our  land  was  only  like  it  used  to  be !  but  it's 
become  so  mighty  poor  our  children  can't  have  many  ad- 
vantages these  days.  The  Harcourts  and  Stauntons  whom 
you  met  are  descendants  of  ancestors  once  well  known  in 
this  state." 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  the  land  need  not  have  grown 
poor,"  said  Percy.  "  If  the  land  was  once  productive,  its 
fertility  ought  to  be  maintained  by  the  return  of  the  essen- 
tial materials  removed  in  crops  or  destroyed  by  cultivation. 
Surely  land  need  not  become  poor;  but  of  course  I  know 
too  little  about  this  land  to  suggest  at  the  present  time 
what  method  could  best  be  adopted  for  its  improvement." 

"  We  can  tell  you  what  the  best  method  is,"  she  quickly 
replied.  "  Just  put  on  plenty  of  ordinary  farm  fertilizer ; 
but,  laws,  we  don't  have  enough  to  cover  fifty  acres  a 
year." 

For  a  time  each  seemed  lost  in  thought,  or  listening  to 
the  husband  and  wife  who  sat  in  the  front  seat  quietly 


THE  MUSICALE  37 

talking  of  the  evening's  performances.  Percy  recognized 
some  of  the  names  they  mentioned  as  belonging  to  persons 
to  whom  he  had  been  presented  at  the  church.  It  gradu- 
ally dawned  upon  him  that  he  had  spent  the  evening  with 
the  aristocracy  of  the  Blue  Mound  neighborhood.  Cul- 
ture, refinement,  and  poverty  were  the  chief  characteristics 
of  the  people  who  had  been  assembled. 

"  It  need  not  have  been,"  he  repeated  to  himself ; 
"  surely,  it  need  not  have  been,"  and  then  he  wondered  if 
these  were  not  much  sadder  words  than  the  oft  repeated 
"  it  might  have  been." 

"  May  I  ask  where  your  people  came  from,  Mrs.  West?  " 
he  questioned. 

"Where  we  came  from?"  she  repeated,  "I  don't  quite 
understand." 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  Percy,  "  but  in  the  West  it  is  so 
common  to  ask  people  where  they  are  from.  You  know  the 
West  is  settled  with  people  from  all  sections  of  the  East, 
and  many  from  Europe  and  from  Canada,  and  I  thought 
your  ancestors  may  have  moved  here  from  some  other  state, 
as  from  Pennsylvania,  for  example,  where  my  mother's 
people  once  lived." 

"  Let  me  advise  you,  Young  Man,"  said  the  grandmother 
briskly,  and  in  a  tone  that  reminded  Percy  of  the  twinkle 
he  had  at  times  noticed  in  her  eyes  when  she  seemed  young 
again  —  "  Let  me  advise  you  never  to  ask  a  Virginian  if 
he  was  born  in  Pennsylvania.  That's  more  than  most 
Virginians  can  stand.  Once  a  Virginian,  always  a  Virgin- 
ian,—  both  now,  hereafter,  and  hitherto.  It's  mighty 
hard  to  find  a  Virginian  who  came  from  anywhere  except 
from  the  royal  blood  of  England ;  although  some  may  con- 
descend to  acknowledge  kinship  to  the  Scottish  royalty." 

The  grandmother's  voice  was  raised  to  a  pitch  which 
commanded  the  attention  of  the  other  members  in  the  car- 


38  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

riage  and  a  hearty  laugh  followed  her  jovial  wit,  to  the 
full  relief  of  Percy's  temporary  embarrassment. 

"  Well,"  she  continued,  "  to  answer  your  question :  my 
husband  and  my  children  are  direct  descendants  of  Colonel 
Charles  West,  a  brother  of  Lord  Delaware,  who  was  Sir 
Thomas  West,  whose  ancestry  goes  back  to  Henry  the 
Second,  of  England,  and  to  David  the  First,  of  Scotland ; 
and  my  granddaughter  is  the  great-granddaughter  of  Pat- 
rick Henry.  So  now  you  know  where  ice  came  from,"  and 
she  laughed  again  like  a  girl.  "  Yes,"  she  added,  "  we 
have  a  family  tree  six  feet  from  branch  to  branch,  but  it  is 
stored  in  a  back  room  where  I  am  sure  it  is  covered  with 
cobwebs,  for  we  have  no  time  to  live  with  the  past  when  the 
summer  boarders  are  here." 

As  the  carriage  stopped  at  the  side  gate,  the  children's 
voices  could  be  heard  in  the  rear ;  for  Mr.  West  had  been 
living  over  again  his  younger  days  with  his  sweet-faced 
wife,  and  the  farm  team  had  taken  its  own  time. 


CHAPTER    VII 
A  BIT  OF  HISTORY 

,  I  shall  be  at  home  to-day  and  glad  to  as- 
sist  you  in  any  way  possible,"  announced  Mr. 
West  at  the  breakfast  table. 

"  That  is  very  kind  of  you,"  Percy  replied.  "  I  want  es- 
pecially to  learn  some  of  the  things  you  know  about  the 
soils  of  Westover.  Can  you  show  me  the  best  land  and  the 
poorest  land  on  the  estate?  " 

"  I  think  I  can,"  said  Mr.  West.  "  We  have  some  land 
that  has  not  grown  a  crop  in  fifty  years,  and  we  have  other 
land  that  still  produces  a  very  fair  crop  if  properly  ro- 
tated." 

"  And  what  rotation  do  you  practise?  " 

'*  Well,  the  system  we  have  finally  settled  into  and  have 
followed  for  many  years  is  to  plow  up  the  run-out  pasture 
land  and  plant  to  corn.  The  second  year  we  usually  raise 
a  crop  of  wheat  or  oats  and  seed  down  to  clover  and  tim- 
othy. We  then  try  to  cut  hay  from  the  land  for  two 
years,  and  afterward  we  use  the  field  for  pasture  for  six 
or  eight  years,  or  until  finally  it  produces  only  weeds  and 
foul  grass.  Then  we  cover  it  with  farm  manure,  so  far  as 
we  can,  and  again  plow  the  land  for  corn.  Wheat  and 
cattle  are  the  principal  products  sold  from  the  farm." 

"  In  this  way,"  said  Percy,  "  you  grow  one  crop  of  corn 
on  the  same  field  about  once  in  ten  or  twelve  years." 

"  Yes,  about  that,  and  also  one,  or  sometimes  two,  crops 
of  small  grain.  We  usually  have  about  seventy-five  acres 
of  corn,  nearly  a  hundred  acres  of  small  grain,  and  we  cut 

39 


40  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

hay  from  somewhat  more  than  a  hundred  acres,  thus  leav- 
ing perhaps  five  hundred  acres  of  pasture  land,  besides 
about  two  hundred  acres  of  timber  land  which  has  not  been 
cultivated  for  many  years." 

"  Was  the  timber  land  that  we  see  about  here  formerly 
cultivated  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  Oh,  yes,  nearly  all  of  it  was  under  cultivation  when  I 
was  a  boy,  although  some  had  been  allowed  to  go  back  to 
timber  even  before  I  was  born.  On  our  own  farm  we  have 
some  timber  land  that,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn, 
was  never  under  cultivation ;  and  the  character  of  the  trees 
is  different  on  that  land.  There  you  will  find  original  pine, 
but  on  the  worn-out  land  the  *  old-field '  pine  are  found. 
They  are  practically  worthless,  while  the  original  pine 
makes  very  valuable  lumber. 

"  With  our  system  of  rotation  we  keep  about  all  of  our 
farm  under  control ;  but  the  smaller  farms  were  necessarily 
cropped  more  continuously  to  support  the  family,  and  they 
became  so  unproductive  that  many  of  them  have  been  com- 
pletely abandoned  for  agricultural  purposes;  and  even 
some  of  the  large  plantations  were  poorly  managed,  one 
part  having  been  cropped  continuously  until  too  poor  to 
pay  for  cropping,  while  the  remainder  was  allowed  to  grow 
up  in  scrub  brush  and  *  old-field '  pine ;  and,  of  course,  the 
expense  of  clearing  such  land  is  about  as  much  as  the  net 
value  of  the  crops  that  could  be  grown  until  it  again  be- 
comes too  poor  for  cropping." 

"  Then  the  recleared  lands  are  not  as  productive  as  when 
they  were  first  cleared  from  the  virgin  forest?  " 

"  Oh,  by  no  means.  In  the  virgin  state  these  lands  grew 
bountiful  crops  almost  continuously  for  a  hundred  years 
or  more.  Virginia  was  famed  at  home  and  abroad  for  her 
virgin  fertility.  Great  crops  of  corn,  wheat,  and  tobacco 
were  grown.  Tobacco  was  a  valuable  export  crop,  and 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY  41 

there  were  many  Virginians  whose  mothers  came  to  America 
with  passage  paid  for  in  tobacco.  History  records,  you 
may  remember,  that  it  was  the  custom  for  a  time  to  per- 
mit a  young  man  to  pay  into  a  general  store  house  a  hun- 
dred pounds  of  tobacco, —  and  this  was  later  increased  to 
one  hundred  fifty  pounds, —  to  be  used  in  payment  of  pas- 
sage for  young  women  who  were  thus  enabled  to  come  to 
America ;  and  there  was  a  very  distinct  understanding  that 
only  those  who  had  come  forth  with  the  tobacco  were  eligi- 
ble as  suitors  for  the  hand  of  any  *  imported  '  maiden.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  some  such  arrangement  as  this  was  almost 
a  necessity,"  said  Mr.  West,  as  he  noted  Adelaide's  almost 
incredulous  look.  "  Among  the  first  settlers  in  Virginia, 
young  men  greatly  predominated ;  and  in  the  main  the 
people  in  the  home  country  were  themselves  in  poverty. 
Under  the  hereditary  laws  of  England  the  father's  estate 
and  title  became  the  possession  of  his  eldest  son;  and  in 
large  measure  the  other  children  of  the  family  were  thrown 
absolutely  upon  their  own  resources,  so  that  many,  even 
with  royal  blood  in  their  veins,  were  very  glad  to  embrace 
any  opportunity  offered  to  seek  a  new  home  in  this  land  of 
virgin  richness. 

"  Of  course,"  he  continued,  smilingly  and  in  direct  an- 
swer to  Adelaide's  inquiring  look,  "  those  young  women 
were  in  no  sense  bound  to  accept  the  attention  or  the  offer 
of  any  man;  but  naturally  most  of  them  did  become  the 
wives  of  those  who  were  able  to  offer  them  a  husband's  love 
and  a  home  with  more  of  life's  comforts  perhaps  than  they 
had  ever  known  before.  They  were  at  perfect  liberty,  how- 
ever, to  remain  in  the  enjoyment  of  single  blessedness  if 
they  chose ;  and  I  doubt  not,"  he  added,  with  a  twinkle  in 
his  eyes,  "  that  some  of  them  had  no  other  choice." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

WESTOVER 

WITH  an  auger  in  his  hand,  by  means  of  which  a 
hole  could  be  quickly  bored  into  the  soil  to  a 
depth  of  three  or  four  feet,  Percy  joined  Mr. 
West  for  the  tramp  over  the  plantation. 

In  general  the  estate  called  Westover  consists  of  undu- 
lating upland.  A  small  stream  crosses  one  corner  of  the 
farm  bordered  by  some  twenty  acres  of  bottom  land  which 
is  subject  to  frequent  overflow,  and  used  only  for  perma- 
nent pasture.  Several  draws  or  small  valleys  are  tribu- 
tary to  the  stream  valley,  thus  furnishing  excellent  surface 
drainage  for  the  entire  farm.  In  some  places  the  sides 
of  these  valleys  are  quite  sloping  and  subject  to  moderate 
erosion  when  not  protected  by  vegetation.  Above  and  be- 
tween these  slopes  the  upland  is  nearly  level.  As  they 
came  upon  one  of  these  level  areas,  grown  up  with  small 
forest  trees,  Mr.  West  stopped  and  said: 

"  Now  right  here  is  probably  as  poor  a  piece  of  land  as 
there  is  on  the  farm.  This  land  will  positively  not  grow  a 
crop  worth  harvesting  unless  it  is  well  fertilized." 

"  If  we  were  in  the  Illinois  corn  belt,"  replied  Percy, 
"  I  should  expect  to  find  the  land  in  this  position  to  be  the 
most  productive  on  the  farm.  Our  level  uplands  are  now 
valued  at  from  one  hundred  fifty  to  two  hundred  dollars  an 
acre.  A  farm  of  one  hundred  eighty  acres,  five  miles  from 
town,  sold  for  two  hundred  and  fourteen  dollars  an  acre  a 
few  days  before  I  started  east." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  this  may  have  been  good  land 

42 


WESTOVER  43 

once,  but  if  so  it  was  before  my  time.  Of  course  most  of 
our  uplands  here  have  been  cropped  for  upwards  of  two 
hundred  years;  and  about  all  that  has  ever  been  done  to 
keep  up  the  fertility  of  the  soil  has  been  to  rotate  the 
crops.  To  be  sure,  the  farm  manure  has  always  been  used 
so  far  as  it  would  go,  but  the  supply  is  really  very  small 
compared  to  the  need  for  it." 

"  Do  you  think  that  the  proper  rotation  of  crops  would 
maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil?"  asked  Percy. 

"  No,  I  have  tried  too  many  rotations  to  think  that,  but 
I  suppose  it  is  a  help  in  that  direction,  don't  you?  " 

"  I  would  say  that  crop  rotation  may  help  to  maintain 
the  supply  of  some  important  constituents  of  a  fertile  soil, 
but  it  will  certainly  hasten  the  depletion  of  some  other 
equally  essential  constituents." 

"  Well,  that's  a  new  idea  to  me.  I  may  not  quite  grasp 
your  meaning;  but  first  tell  me  about  these  tests  you  are 
making." 

When  they  stopped  on  the  area  of  poor  land  as  des- 
ignated by  Mr.  West,  Percy  had  turned  his  auger  into  the 
earth  and  drawn  out  a  sample  of  moist  soil,  which  he 
molded  into  the  form  of  a  ball.  He  broke  this  in  two,  in- 
serted a  piece  of  blue  paper,  and  pressed  it  firmly  to- 
gether. He  then  laid  the  ball  of  soil  aside,  secured  an- 
other sample  with  the  auger,  and  formed  it  into  a  cake 
with  a  hollow  in  the  upper  surface.  He  took  from  his 
pocket  a  slender  box  or  tube  of  light  wood,  removed  the 
screw  cap,  and  drew  out  a  glass-stoppered  bottle. 

"  This  bottle  contains  hydrochloric  acid,"  said  Percy. 
"  It  is  often  incorrectly  called  *  muriatic  acid.'  It  consists 
of  two  elements,  hydrogen  and  chlorin,  from  which  its  name 
is  derived.  But  you  are  perhaps  already  familiar  with 
the  chemical  elements." 

"  Well,  I  heard  lectures  at  William  and  Mary  for  four 


44  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

years,  and  they  included  some  chemistry  as  it  was  then 
taught ;  but  they  certainly  did  not  include  the  application 
of  chemistry  to  agriculture,  and  I  am  greatly  interested 
to  know  the  meaning  of  these  tests  you  are  making  here  on 
our  own  farm  under  my  own  eyes.  You  may  take  it  for 
granted  that  I  know  absolutely  nothing  of  such  use  of 
chemistry  as  you  are  evidently  turning  to  some  practical 
value." 

"  Any  other  farmer  can  make  these  tests  as  well  as  I 
can,"  said  Percy.  "  This  bottle  of  acid  cost  me  fifteen 
cents  and  it  can  be  duplicated  for  the  same  price  at  almost 
any  drug  store.  The  acid  is  very  concentrated,  in  fact 
about  as  strong  as  can  easily  be  produced,  but  it  need  not 
be  especially  pure.  Some  care  should  be  taken  not  to  get 
it  on  the  clothing  or  on  the  fingers,  although  it  is  not  at 
all  dangerous  to  handle,  but  it  tends  to  burn  the  fingers  un- 
less soon  removed,  either  by  washing  with  water  or  by  rub- 
bing it  off  with  the  moist  soil. 

"  I  use  this  acid  to  test  the  soil  for  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  limestone.  Ordinary  limestone  consists  of  calcium 
carbonate.  Here,  again  the  chemical  name  alone  is  suffi- 
cient to  indicate  the  elements  that  compose  this  compound. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  end- 
ing -ate  on  the  common  chemical  names  signifies  the  pres- 
ence of  oxygen.  Thus  calcium  carbonate  is  composed  of 
the  three  primary  elements,  calcium,  carbon  and  oxygen. 

"  Of  course  the  chemical  element  is  the  simplest  form  of 
matter.  An  element  is  a  primary  substance  which  cannot 
be  divided  into  two  or  more  substances.  All  known  matter 
consists  of  about  eighty  of  these  primary  elements ;  and,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  these  are  of  rare  occurrence  — 
many  of  them  much  more  rare  than  the  element  gold. 

"  About  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  soil  consists  of 
eight  elements  united  in  various  compounds  or  combi- 


WESTOVER  45 

nations ;  and  only  ten  elements  are  essential  for  the  growth 
and  full  development  of  corn  or  other  plants.  If  any  one 
of  these  ten  elements  is  lacking,  it  is  impossible  to  produce 
a  kernel  of  corn,  a  grain  of  wheat,  or  a  leaf  of  clover ;  and 
in  the  main  the  supply  is  under  the  farmer's  own  control. 
But  we  can  discuss  this  matter  more  fully  later.  Let  us 
see  what  we  have  here." 

Percy  poured  a  few  drops  of  the  hydrochloric  acid  into 
the  hollow  of  the  cake  of  soil. 

"  What  should  it  do?  "  asked  Mr.  West. 

"  If  the  soil  contains  any  limestone,  the  acid  should  pro- 
duce foaming,  or  effervescence,"  replied  Percy ;  "  but  it  is 
very  evident  that  this  soil  contains  no  limestone.  You  see 
the  hydrochloric  acid  has  power  to  decompose  calcium 
carbonate  with  the  formation  of  carbonic  acid  and  calcium 
chlorid,  a  kind  of  salt  that  is  used  to  make  a  brine  that 
won't  freeze  in  the  artificial  ice  plants.  The  carbonic  acid, 
if  produced,  at  once  decomposes  into  water  and  carbon 
dioxid.  Now,  the  liberated  carbon  dioxid  is  a  gas  and  the 
rapid  generation  or  evolution  of  this  gas  constitutes  the 
bubbling  or  foaming  we  are  looking  for ;  but  since  there  is 
no  appearance  of  foaming  we  know  that  this  soil  contains 
no  limestone." 

"  Then  you  have  already  found  that  those  three  ele- 
ments,—  calcium,  carbon,  and  oxygen,  you  called  them,  I 
think  —  you  find  that  those  elements  are  all  lacking  in  this 
soil." 

"  No,  this  test  does  not  prove  that,"  said  Percy.  "  It 
only  proves  that  they  are  not  present  as  limestone.  Cal- 
cium may  be  present  in  other  compounds,  especially  in 
silicates,  which  are  the  most  abundant  compounds  in  the 
soil  and  in  the  earth's  crust ;  and,  as  indicated  by  the  end- 
ing -ate,  oxygen  is  contained  in  calcium  silicate  as  well  as 
in  calcium  carbonate." 


46  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"I  see;  the  subject  is  much  more  complicated  than  1 
thought." 

"  Somewhat,  perhaps,"  Percy  replied ;  "  but  yet  it  is 
quite  simple  and  very  easily  understood,  if  we  only  keep  in 
mind  a  few  well  established  facts.  Certainly  the  essential 
science  of  soil  fertility  is  much  less  complicated  than  many 
of  the  political  questions  of  the  day,  such  as  the  gold 
standard  or  free-silver  basis,  the  tariff  issues,  and  reci- 
procity advantages,  regarding  which  most  farmers  are 
fairly  well  informed, —  at  least  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
can  argue  these  questions  for  hours." 

"  I  think  you  are  quite  right  in  that,"  said  Mr.  West. 
"  Of  course,  it  is  important  that  every  citizen  entitled  to 
the  privilege  of  voting  in  a  democracy  like  ours  should  be 
able  to  exercise  his  franchise  intelligently ;  but  the  citizen 
who  is  responsible  for  the  management  of  farm  lands 
ought  surely  to  be  at  least  as  well  informed  concerning  the 
principles  which  underlie  the  maintenance  of  soil  fertility ; 
provided,  of  course,  that  such  knowledge  is  within  his 
reach;  and  from  what  you  say  I  am  beginning  to  believe 
that  such  is  the  case.  At  any  rate  this  simple  test  seems 
to  show  conclusively  that  this  soil  contains  no  limestone, 
and  it  is  common  knowledge  that  limestone  soils  are  good 
soils." 

Percy  took  up  the  ball  of  soil  containing  the  slip  of  blue 
paper,  broke  it  in  two  again,  and  it  was  seen  that  the  paper 
had  changed  in  color  from  blue  to  red. 

"  There's  a  change,  for  certain,"  said  Mr".  West ;  "  that 
has  some  meaning  to  you,  I  suppose." 

"  This  is  litmus  paper,"  said  Percy.  "  It  is  prepared 
by  moistening  specially  prepared  paper  with  a  solution  of 
a  coloring  matter  called  litmus,  and  the  paper  is  then 
dried.  This  coloring  matter  has  the  property  of  turning 
blue  in  the  presence  of  alkali  and  red  in  the  presence  of 


WESTOVER  47 

acid.  The  blue  paper  is  prepared  with  a  trace  of  alkali, 
and  the  red  paper  with  a  trace  of  acid.  If  more  than  a 
trace  were  present  the  litmus  paper  would  not  be  suffi- 
ciently sensitive  for  the  test. 

"  This  little  bottle  containing  two  dozen  slips  of  paper 
cost  me  five  cents,  and  it  can  be  obtained  at  most  drug 
stores. 

"  Alkali  and  acid  are  exactly  opposite  terms,  like  hot 
and  cold.  The  one  neutralizes  the  other.  This  test  with 
litmus  paper  is  a  test  for  soil  acidity,  and  the  fact  that 
the  moisture  of  the  soil  has  turned  the  litmus  from  blue  to 
red  shows  that  this  soil  is  acid,  or  sour.  The  soil  moisture 
contained  enough  acid  to  neutralize  the  trace  of  alkali  con- 
tained in  the  blue  paper  and  to  change  the  paper  to  a 
distinctly  light  red  color;  and  the  fact  that  the  paper  re- 
mains red,  even  after  drying,  shows  that  the  soil  contains 
fixed  acids  or  acid  salts,  and  not  merely  carbonic  acid, 
which  if  present  would  completely  volatilize  as  the  paper 
dries.  * 

"  Now,  these  two  tests  are  in  harmony.  The  one  shows 
the  absence  of  limestone,  and  the  other  shows  the  presence 
of  acidity,  and  consequently  the  need  of  limestone  to  cor- 
rect or  neutralize  the  acidity,  for  limestone  itself  is  an 
alkali." 

"But  limestone  soils  are  not  alkali  soils,  are  they?" 
asked  Mr.  West. 

"  Not  in  the  sense  of  containing  injurious  alkali,  like 
sodium  carbonate,  the  compound  which  is  found  in  the 
'  black  alkali '  lands  of  the  arid  regions  of  the  far  West ; 
but  chemically  considered  limestone  is  truly  an  alkali ;  and, 
as  such,  it  has  power  to  neutralize  this  soil  acidity." 

"  Is  the  acidity  harmful  to  the  crops?  " 

"  It  is  not  particularly  harmful  to  the  common  crops  of 
the  grass  family,  such  as  wheat,  corn,  oats,  and  timothy ; 


48  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

but  some  of  the  most  valuable  crops  for  soil  improvement 
will  not  thrive  on  acid  soils.  This  is  especially  true  of 
clover  and  alfalfa." 

"  That  is  certainly  correct  for  clover  so  far  as  this  kind 
of  soil  is  concerned,"  said  Mr.  West.  "  Clover  never 
amounts  to  much  on  this  kind  of  land,  except  where  heav- 
ily fertilized.  When  fertilized  it  usually  grows  well. 
Does  the  farm  fertilizer  neutralize  the  acid?  " 

"  Only  to  a  small  extent.  It  is  true  that  farm  manures 
contain  very  appreciable  amounts  of  lime  and  some  other 
alkaline,  or  basic,  substances,  but  in  addition  to  this,  and 
perhaps  of  greater  importance,  is  the  fact  that  such  ferti- 
lizer has  power  to  feed  the  clover  crop  as  well  as  other 
crops.  In  other  words,  it  furnishes  the  essential  materials 
of  which  these  crops  are  made.  In  addition  to  this  the  de- 
caying organic  matter  has  power  to  liberate  some  plant 
food  from  the  soil  which  would  not  otherwise  be  made  avail- 
able, although  to  that  extent  the  farm  manure  serves  as  a 
soil  stimulant,  this  action  tending  not  toward  soil  enrich- 
ment but  toward  the  further  depletion  of  the  store  of  fer- 
tility still  remaining  in  the  soil." 

"  This  seems  a  complicated  problem,"  said  Mr.  West, 
"  but  may  I  now  show  you  some  of  our  more  productive 
land?" 

"  As  soon  as  I  collect  a  sample  of  this,"  replied  Percy, 
and  to  Mr.  West's  surprise  he  proceeded  to  bore  about 
twenty  holes  in  the  space  of  two  or  three  acres.  The  bor- 
ings were  taken  to  a  depth  of  nearly  seven  inches,  and  after 
being  thoroughly  mixed  together  would  form  an  average 
sample.  The  lot  was  placed  in  a  small  bag  bearing  a 
number  which  Percy  recorded  in  his  note  book  together 
with  a  description  of  the  land. 

"  I  wish  to  have  an  analysis  made  of  this  sample,"  re- 
marked Percy,  as  they  resumed  their  walk. 


WESTOVER  49 

"  But  I  thought  you  had  analyzed  this  soil,"  was  the  re- 


"  Oh,  I  only  tested  for  limestone  and  acidity,"  explained 
Percy.  "  I  wish  to  have  exact  determinations  made  of  the 
nitrogen  and  phosphorus,  and  perhaps  of  the  potassium, 
magnesium,  and  calcium.  All  of  these  are  absolutely  es- 
sential for  the  growth  of  every  agricultural  plant  ;  and  any 
one  of  them  may  be  deficient  in  the  soil,  although  the  last 
three  are  not  so  likely  to  be  as  the  other  two." 

"  How  long  will  it  take  to  make  this  analysis  ?  "  was 
asked. 

•  "  About  a  week  or  ten  days.  Perhaps  I  shall  collect  two 
or  three  other  samples  and  send  them  all  together  to  an 
analytical  chemist.  It  is  the  only  way  to  secure  positive 
knowledge  in  advance  as  to  what  these  soils  contain.  In 
other  words,  by  this  means  we  can  take  an  absolute  invoice 
of  the  stock  of  fertility  in  the  soil,  just  as  truly  as  the 
merchant  can  take  an  invoice  of  the  stock  of  goods  carried 
on  his  shelves." 

"  So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  this  would  not  be  an  in- 
voice in  advance,"  remarked  Mr.  West,  with  a  shade  of 
sadness  in  his  voice.  "  If  we  knew  the  contents  of  the  crops 
that  have  been  sold  from  this  farm  during  the  two  cen- 
turies past,  we  would  have  a  fairly  good  invoice,  I  fear,  of 
what  the  virgin  soil  contained;  but  can  you  compare  the 
invoice  of  the  soil  with  that  of  the  merchant's  goods  ?  " 

"  Quite  fairly  so,"  Percy  replied.  "  The  plant-food 
content  of  the  plowed  soil  of  an  acre  of  normal  land  means 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  much  in  the  making  of  definite  plans 
for  a  system  of  permanent  agriculture,  as  the  merchant's 
invoice  means  in  the  future  plans  of  his  business. 

"  It  should  not  be  assumed  that  the  analysis  of  the  soil 
will  give  information  the  application  of  which  will  always 
assure  an  abundant  crop  the  following  season.  In  com- 


50  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

parison,  it  may  also  be  said,  however,  that  the  merchant's 
invoice  of  January  the  first  may  have  no  relation  to  the 
sales  from  his  store  on  January  the  second.  Now,  the 
year  with  the  farmer  is  as  a  day  with  the  merchant.  The 
farmer  harvests  his  crop  but  once  a  year;  while  the  mer- 
chant plants  and  harvests  every  day,  or  at  least  every 
week.  But  I  would  say  that  the  invoice  of  the  soil  is  worth 
as  much  to  the  farmer  for  the  next  year  as  the  merchant's 
invoice  is  to  him  for  the  next  month. 

"  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  both  must  look 
forward,  and  plans  must  be  made  by  the  merchant  for  sev- 
eral months,  and  by  the  farmer  for  several  years.  Your 
twelve-year  rotation  is  a  very  good  example  of  the  kind  of 
future  planning  the  successful  farmer  must  do.  On  the 
other  hand,  some  of  your  neighbors,  who  have  not  prac- 
ticed some  such  system  of  rotation  now  have  '  old-field  '  pine 
on  land  long  since  abandoned,  and  soil  too  poor  to  culti- 
vate on  land  long  cropped  continuously." 

"  This  is  a  kind  soil,"  remarked  Mr.  West,  as  he  paused 
on  a  gently  undulating  part  of  the  field. 

"  That  is  a  new  use  of  the  word  to  me,"  said  Percy. 
"  Just  what  do  you  mean  by  a  '  kind '  soil?  " 

"  Well,  if  we  apply  manure  here  it  will  show  in  the  crops 
for  many  years.  It  is  easy  to  build  this  soil  up  with  ma- 
nure ;  but,  of  course,  we  have  too  little  to  treat  it  right." 

"  The  soil  shows  some  acidity,"  said  Percy,  testing  with 
litmus  and  acid.  "  Does  clover  grow  on  this  soil  ?  " 

"  Very  little,  except  where  we  put  manure." 

'Another  composite  sample  of  the  soil  was  collected,  and 
they  walked  on. 

"  Now,  here,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  is  about  the  most  pro- 
ductive upland  on  the  farm." 

"Is  that  possible?"  asked  Percy,  the  question  being 
directed  more  to  himself  than  to  his  host. 


WESTOVER  51 

"  That  is  according  to  my  observation  for  about  fifty 
years,"  he  replied.  "  Where  we  spread  the  farm  ferti- 
lizer over  this  old  pasture  land  and  plow  it  under  for  corn, 
we  often  harvest  a  crop  of  eight  barrels  to  the  acre,  while 
the  average  of  the  field  will  not  be  more  than  five  barrels. — 
A  barrel  of  corn  with  us  is  five  bushels." 

They  had  stopped  on  one  of  the  steepest  slopes  in  the 
field. 

"  These  hillsides  would  be  considered  the  poorest  land  on 
the  farm  if  we  were  in  the  corn  belt,"  said  Percy,  "  but  I 
think  I  understand  the  difference.  Your  level  uplands 
when  once  depleted  remain  depleted,  because  the  soil  that 
was  plowed  two  hundred  years  ago  is  the  same  soil  that  is 
plowed  to-day ;  but  these  slopes  lose  surface  soil  by  erosion 
at  least  as  rapidly  as  the  mineral  plant  food  is  removed 
by  cropping ;  and  to  that  extent  they  afford  the  conditions 
for  a  permanent  system  of  agriculture  of  low  grade,  unless, 
of  course,  the  erosion  is  more  rapid  than  the  disintegration 
of  the  underlying  bed  rock,  which  I  note  is  showing  in 
some  outcrops  in  the  gullies. 

"  I  want  some  samples  here,"  he  continued,  and  at  once 
proceeded  to  collect  a  composite  sample  of  the  surface 
soil  and  another  of  the  sub-soil. 

"  In  the  main  this  soil  is  slightly  acid,"  said  Percy, 
after  several  tests  with  the  hydrochloric  acid  and  the  lit- 
mus paper ;  "  although  occasionally  there  are  traces  of 
limestone  present.  The  mass  of  soil  seems  to  be  faintly 
acid,  but  here  and  there  are  little  pieces  of  limestone  which 
still  produce  some  localized  benefit,  and  probably  prevent 
the  development  of  more  marked  acidity  throughout  the 
soil  mass. 

"  If  I  can  get  to  an  express  office  this  afternoon,"  he 
continued,  "  I  shall  be  glad  to  forward  these  four  com- 
posite samples  to  an  analyst." 


52  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  If  you  wouldn't  mind  riding  to  Montplain  with  Ade- 
laide when  she  goes  for  her  music  lesson  this  afternoon,  it 
would  be  very  convenient,"  said  Mr.  West. 

"  With  your  daughter's  permission  that  would  suit  me 
very  well,"  he  replied.  "  I  shall  be  glad  to  spend  one  or 
two  days  more  in  this  vicinity,  and  then  I  wish  to  visit 
other  sections  for  a  week  or  two,  after  which  I  would  be 
glad  to  stop  here  again  on  my  return  trip  and  probably 
I  shall  have  the  report  of  the  chemist  concerning  these 
samples." 

Percy  selected  a  sample  of  the  bed  rock,  and  on  reach- 
ing the  house  he  took  a  small  balance  and  a  thin  glass 
flask  from  his  suit-case,  weighed  the  flask  and  acid  bottle, 
then  broke  the  stone  into  small  pieces  and  placed  100 
grams  of  it  in  the  flask.  Next  he  poured  acid  into  the 
flask  in  small  portions  until  foaming  ceased,  and  then 
noted  the  combined  weight  of  flask  and  bottle. 

"  The  total  weight  has  decreased  by  11  grams,"  he  re- 
marked. "  This  loss  consists  of  carbon  dioxid  with  per- 
haps a  trace  of  water.  Since  44  parts  of  carbon  dioxid 
are  equivalent  to  100  of  calcium  carbonate,  this  rock  con- 
tains about  25  per  cent,  of  limestone.  If  it  were  pure 
lime  carbonate,  a  25-gram  sample  would  lose  11  grams  of 
gas,  and  this  quantity  is  sufficient  to  make  the  test  fairly 
accurate.  If  your  bed  rock  were  in  powder  form,  like 
marl,  for  example,  you  might  well  haul  and  spread  it  on 
the  land,  but  it  is  too  poor  in  lime  carbonate  to  justify 
grinding  it.  There  are  now  on  the  market,  and  in  use 
to  some  extent,  small  portable  rock-grinding  machines 
which  can  be  operated  on  the  farm  with  a  good  thresh- 
ing engine,  and  in  many  places  this  is  the  only  economical 
way  to  get  ground  limestone." 


CHAPTER   IX 
THE  BLACK  PEKIL 

AS  Percy  stepped  out  of  the  house  in  the  early  after- 
noon upon  the  announcement  from  Wilkes  that 
"  De  ca'age  is  ready,"  he  noted  that  the  "  ca'age  " 
was  the  two-seated  family  carriage  and  that  Adelaide  had 
already  taken  her  place  in  the  front  seat,  as  driver,  with 
her  music  roll  and  another  bundle  tucked  in  by  her  side. 
Her  glance  at  Percy  and  at  the  rear  seat  was  also  sufficient 
to  indicate  his  place. 

"  This  does  not  seem  right  to  me,  Miss  West,"  said 
Percy.  "  Unless  you  prefer  to  drive  I  shall  be  very  glad 
to  do  so  and  let  you  occupy  this  more  comfortable  seat." 

"  No,  thank  you,"  she  replied,  in  a  tone  that  left  no 
room  for  argument.  "  I  often  drive  our  guests  to  and 
from  the  station,  and  I  much  prefer  this  seat." 

The  rear  seat  was  roomy  and  low,  so  that  Percy  could 
scarcely  see  the  road  ahead  even  by  sitting  on  the  opposite 
side  from  the  driver. 

Aside  from  an  occasional  commonplace  remark,  both  the 
driver  and  the  passenger  were  allowed  to  use  the  time  for 
meditation. 

While  Adelaide  was  already  an  experienced  horse-woman, 
she  was  rarely  permitted  to  drive  the  colts  to  the  village, 
although  she  enjoyed  riding  the  more  spirited  horses,  or 
driving  with  her  brother  in  the  "  buck  board." 

A  mile  from  the  village  the  road  wound  through  a 
wooded  valley,  and  then  climbed  the  opposite  slope,  passing 
the  railway  station  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  town  and  the 

53 


54  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  depot  hotel "  near  by.  Here  Percy  left  the  carriage 
with  the  bags  of  soil,  it  being  arranged  that  he  would  be 
waiting  at  the  hotel  when  Adelaide  returned  from  the  vil- 
lage. 

Adelaide's  "  hour "  was  from  four  to  five,  and  being 
the  last  pupil  for  the  day,  the  teacher  was  not  prompt  to 
close. 

"  I  did  not  realize  the  days  were  becoming  so  short," 
said  Miss  Konster  as  she  opened  the  door.  "  I'm  sorry 
you  have  so  far  to  drive." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mind,"  said  Adelaide.  "  I  know  the  way 
home  well  enough.  You  see  I  have  the  double  carriage,  for 
I  brought  a  guest  to  the  depot  as  usual,  although  he  is  to 
return  with  me,  and  is  probably  very  tired  of  waiting  at 
the  «  depot  hotel.'  " 

It  was  nearly  dark  as  Percy  took  his  place  in  the  rear 
seat,  Adelaide  having  again  declined  to  yield  her  position 
as  driver,  and  now  she  had  more  packages  nearly  filling  the 
seat  beside  her. 

The  team  leisurely  took  the  homeward  way  and  nothing 
more  was  said  except  an  occasional  word  of  encouragement 
to  the  horses.  They  passed  the  lowest  point  in  the  valley 
and  began  to  ascend  the  gentle  slope,  when  the  carriage 
suddenly  stopped,  and  Adelaide  uttered  a  muffled  scream. 
"  Come,  Honey,"  said  a  masculine  voice. 

As  Percy  half  rose  to  his  feet,  he  saw  that  a  negro  had 
grasped  Adelaide  in  an  effort  to  drag  her  from  the  car- 
riage. A  blow  from  Percy  staggered  the  brute  and  he 
released  his  hold  of  Adelaide,  but,  as  he  saw  Percy  jump 
from  the  carriage  on  the  opposite  side,  he  paused. 

"  De's  a  man  heah.  Knock  him,  Geo'ge,"  he  yelled,  as 
he  turned  to  again  grapple  with  Adelaide. 

"  Coward,"  cried  Adelaide,  as  she  saw  Percy  jump  from 
the  carriage  and  dart  up  the  road.  Facing  this  black 


THE  BLACK  PERIL  55 

brute,  she  was  standing  alone  now  with  one  hand  on  the 
back  of  the  seat.  As  the  negro  sprang  at  her  the  second 
time  he  suddenly  uttered  a  scream  like  the  cry  of  a  beast 
and  fell  sprawling  on  his  face.  Almost  at  the  same  mo- 
ment his  companion  was  fairly  lifted  from  his  feet  and 
came  down  headlong  beside  the  carriage. 

"Look  out  for  the  horses,"  called  Percy,  as  he  drove 
the  heels  of  his  heavy  shoes  into  the  moaning  mass  on  the 
ground.  ' 

"  Lie  there,  you  brute,"  he  cried,  "  don't  you  dare  to 
move." 

"  I  have  the  lines,"  said  Adelaide  hoarsely,  "  but  can't 
I  do  something  more?  " 

"  No,  they're  both  down,"  he  answered.  "  Wait  a 
minute." 

He  found  himself  between  the  negroes  lying  with  their 
faces  to  the  ground.  Instantly  he  grasped  each  by  the 
wrist  and  with  an  inward  twist  he  brought  forth  cries  for 
mercy.  It  was  a  trick  he  had  learned  in  college,  that,  by 
drawing  the  arm  behind  the  back  and  twisting,  a  boy  could 
control  a  strong  man. 

"  Can't  I  help  you  ?  "  Adelaide  called  again,  and  Percy 
saw  that  she  was  out  of  the  carriage  and  standing  near. 

"Will  the  horses  stand?"  he  asked. 

"  Oh,  yes,  they're  quiet  now." 

"  Then  take  the  tie  rope  and  tie  their  feet  together. 
Use  the  slip  knot  just  as  you  do  for  the  hitching  post,"  he 
directed.  "  If  they  dare  to  move  I  can  wrench  their  arms 
out  in  this  position.  Right  there  at  the  ankles.  Tie  them 
tight  and  as  closely  together  as  you  can.  Wrap  it  twice 
around  if  it's  long  enough." 

Adelaide  tied  one  end  of  the  rope  around  the  ankle  of  one 
negro  and  wrapped  the  other  end  around  the  ankle  of  the 
other,  drawing  their  feet  together  and  fastening  the  ends 


56  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

of  the  rope  with  a  double  hitch,  which  she  knew  well  how 
to  make. 

Percy  gave  the  rope  a  kick  to  tighten  it. 

"  Now  get  onto  your  feet  and  I'll  march  you  to  town," 
he  ordered,  adding  pressure  to  the  twist  upon  their  wrists 
and  drawing  them  back  upon  their  knees.  Thus  assisted, 
they  struggled  to  their  feet. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  have  to  drive  home  alone,  Miss 
West,"  began  Percy,  when  Adelaide  interrupted  with: 

"  No,  no,  if  you  are  going  back  to  town,  I  will  follow 
you.  I  can  easily  turn  the  team  and  I  will  keep  close  be- 
hind." 

Thus  tied  together,  Percy  almost  ran  his  prisoners 
toward  the  village,  still  holding  each  firmly  by  the  wrist. 
As  they  reached  the  "  depot  hotel,"  he  called  for  assistance, 
and  several  men  quickly  appeared. 

Percy  made  a  brief  report  of  the  attack  as  they  moved 
on  to  the  town  house,  where  the  villains  were  placed  in 
shackles  and  left  in  charge  of  the  marshall. 

"Will  you  drive,  please,  Mr.  Johnston?"  asked  Ade- 
laide as  he  stepped  to  the  carriage ;  for  Adelaide  had  fol- 
lowed almost  to  the  door  of  the  jail  house. 

"  Yes,  please,"  he  replied,  taking  the  seat  beside  her. 

"  I  hope  you  will  pardon  my  calling  you  a  coward,  I  felt 
so  desperate,  and  it  seemed  to  me  for  the  moment  that  you 
were  leaving  me."  Adelaide's  voice  still  had  an  excited 
tremor  to  it. 

"  I  heard  you  say  *  coward,' "  said  Percy,  "  but  I  didn't 
realize  that  you  referred  to  me.  I  saw  the  two  brutes  al- 
most at  the  same  time,  the  one  who  attacked  you  and  the 
other  on  the  same  side  near  the  horses'  heads.  I  struck  the 
one  as  best  I  could  from  my  position,  and  as  he  yelled  and 
the  horses  reared,  I  ran  up  the  slope  ahead  of  the  team  and 
came  down  at  the  other  brute  with  a  blow  in  the  neck,  but  I 


THE  BLACK  PERIL  57 

was  surprised  to  find  them  both  sprawling  on  the  ground ; 
and  under  the  street  lights  I  saw  that  one  of  them  had  an 
eye  frightfully  jammed.  I  am  sure  I  struck  neither  of 
them  in  the  eye." 

Adelaide  made  no  reply,  but  she  knew  now  that  the 
piercing,  beastly  cry  from  the  negro  reaching  for  her  was 
brought  forth  because  the  heel  of  her  shoe  had  entered  the 
socket  of  the  brute's  eye. 

"  You're  mighty  nigh  too  late  for  supper,"  said 
Grandma  West,  as  they  stopped  at  the  side  gate.  Ade- 
laide hurried  to  her  father  who  took  her  in  his  arms  as  he 
saw  how  she  trembled. 

"My  child!  "he  said. 

Yes,  child  she  was  as  she  relaxed  from  the  tension  of  the 
last  hour  and  related  the  experience  of  the  evening. 

"  I  cannot  express  our  gratitude  to  you,  Sir,"  said  Mr. 
West:  "  I  am  glad  you  landed  the  devils  in  jail." 

"  I  am  only  thankful  I  was  there  when  it  happened,"  re- 
plied Percy.  "  I  am  sure  no  man  could  have  done  less.  I 
have  promised  to  return  to  town  in  the  morning  to  serve  as 
legal  witness  in  the  case.  I  hope  your  daughter  need  not 
be  called  upon  for  that  purpose." 

"  Probably  that  will  not  be  necessary,"  Mr.  West  re- 
plied. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  SLAVE  AND  THE  FKEEDMAN 

THE  others  had  retired  but  Percy  and  his  host  con- 
tinued their  conversation  far  into  the  night. 
"  There  are  almost  as  great  variations  among  the 
negroes  as  among  white  people,"  Mr.  West  was  saying. 

"  To  a  man  like  Wilkes  who  was  born  and  raised  here 
on  the  farm,  I  would  entrust  the  protection  of  my  wife  and 
children  as  readily  as  to  any  white  man.  He  has  been 
educated,  so  to  speak,  to  a  sense  of  duty  and  honor ;  and 
negroes  of  his  class  have  almost  never  been  known  to 
violate  a  trust.  Of  course  there  are  bad  niggers,  but  as 
a  rule  such  negroes  have  grown  up  under  conditions  that 
would  develop  the  evil  in  any  race  of  men. 

"  During  the  Secession  it  was  the  most  common  thing 
for  the  men  to  go  to  war  and  leave  their  defenseless  women 
and  children  wholly  in  the  care  of  their  slaves;  and,  even 
though  the  federal  soldiers  were  fighting  to  free  the  slaves 
and  their  masters  to  keep  them  in  slavery,  rarely  did  a 
negro  fail  to  remain  faithful  to  his  trust.  They  hid  from 
the  Northern  soldiers  the  horses  and  mules,  cotton  and 
corn,  clothing  and  provisions,  and  all  sorts  of  valuables ; 
and  in  most  cases  were  ready  to  suffer  themselves  before 
they  would  reveal  the  hidden  property.  To  be  sure,  there 
were  masters  who  abused  their  slaves,  and  some  of  these 
were  naturally  ready  to  desert  at  the  first  opportunity; 
but  in  the  main  the  slave  owner  was  more  kind  to  his  human 
property  than  the  considerate  soldier  was  to  his  horse, 
and  the  negro  as  a  race  is  appreciative  of  kindness." 

68 


59 

"  I  suppose  the  depreciation  in  soil  fertility  and  crop 
yields  dates  largely  from  the  freeing  of  the  slaves,  does  it, 
not  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  Well,  that  was  one  factor,  but  not  the  most  potential 
factor.  Much  land  in  the  South  had  been  abandoned 
agriculturally  long  before  the  war,  and  much  land  in  New 
York  and  New  England  has  been  abandoned  since  the  war. 
The  freeing  of  the  negroes  produced  much  less  effect  in  the 
economic  conditions  of  the  South  than  many  have  supposed. 
The  great  injury  to  the  South  from  the  war  was  due  to 
the  war  itself  and  not  to  the  freeing  of  slaves.  In  the 
main  it  cost  no  more  to  hire  the  negro  after  the  war  than  it 
cost  to  feed  and  clothe  him  before;  and  the  humane  slave 
owner  had  little  difficulty  in  getting  plenty  of  negro  help 
after  the  war.  Very  commonly  his  own  slaves  remained 
with  him  and  were  treated  as  servants,  not  particularly 
differently  than  they  had  been  treated  as  slaves.  Of 
course  there  were  some  brutal  slave  holders,  just  as  there 
are  brutal  horse  owners,  and  such  men  suffered  very  much 
from  the  loss  of  slave  labor. 

"  The  Southern  people  have  no  regrets  for  the  freeing 
of  the  slaves.  Probably  it  was  the  best  thing  that  ever 
happened  to  us ;  and  the  South  would  have  less  regret  for 
the  war  itself,  except  that  our  recovery  from  it  was  greatly 
delayed  by  the  reconstruction  policy  which  was  followed 
after  the  war.  The  immediate  enfranchisement  of  the 
negro,  especially  in  those  sections  where  this  resulted  in 
placing  all  the  power  of  the  local  government  in  the  hands 
of  the  negro,  was  a  worse  blow  to  the  South  than  the  war 
itself. 

"  It  is  believed  that  this  would  not  have  been  done  if 
Lincoln  had  lived.  Lincoln  was  always  the  President  of 
all  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  his  death  was  a 
far  greater  loss  to  the  South  than  to  the  North.  To 


60  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

place  the  power  to  govern  the  intelligent  white  people  of 
the  South  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  their  former  ignorant 
slaves  was  undoubtedly  the  most  abominable  political  blun- 
der recorded  in  history ;  and  even  this  was  intensified  by  the 
unprincipled  white-skinned  vultures  who  came  among  us 
to  fatten  upon  our  dead  or  dying  conditions.  Those  years 
of  so-called  reconstruction  constitute  the  blackest  page  in 
the  history  of  modern  civilization." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  said  Percy,  "  and  so  far  as 
I  know  them  the  soldiers  of  the  Northern  armies  also  agree 
with  you.  Several  of  my  own  relatives  fought  to  free  the 
negro  slave;  but  none  of  them  fought  to  enslave  their 
white  brothers  of  the  South  by  putting  them  absolutely 
under  negro  government.  And  yet  there  is  one  possible 
justification  for  that  abominable  reconstruction  policy. 
It  may  have  averted  a  subsequent  war  which  might  have 
lasted  not  for  four  years,  but  for  forty  years.  Even  if 
this  be  true,  perhaps  there  is  no  credit  in  the  policy  for 
any  man  who  helped  to  enforce  it,  but  you  will  grant  that 
there  were  two  important  results  from  those  bitter  years 
of  reconstruction: 

"  First,  the  negro  learned  with  certainty  at  once  and 
forever  that  he  was  a  free  man. 

"  Second,  he  at  once  acquired  a  degree  of  independence 
effectually  preventing  the  development  of  a  situation 
throughout  the  South,  in  which  the  negro,  though  nomi- 
nally free,  would  have  remained  virtually  a  slave,  a  situ- 
ation which,  if  once  established,  might  have  required  a 
subsequent  war  of  many  years  for  its  complete  eradication. 
Even  under  the  conditions  which  have  prevailed,  there  have 
been  isolated  instances  of  peonage  in  the  Southern  states 
since  the  war;  and  if  the  education  and  gradual  enfran- 
chisement of  the  negroes  had  been  left  wholly  in  the  hands 
of  their  former  masters,  from  the  immediate  close  of  the 


THE  SLAVE  AND  THE  FREEDMAN        61 

war,  I  can  conceive  of  conditions  under  which  slavery 
would  essentially  have  been  continued." 

"  Such  a  possibility  is,  of  course,  conceivable,"  said  Mfx. 
West,  "  and  we  must  all  admit  that  there  were  some  slave 
holders  who  would  have  taken  advantage  of  any  such  op- 
portunity; but  had  Lincoln  lived  the  terms  made  would 
probably  have  been  such  that  the  South  would  have  felt  in 
honor  bound  to  enforce  them.  Probably  the  enfranchise- 
ment would  have  been  based  upon  some  sort  of  qualification 
such  as  the  Southern  states  have  very  generally  adopted  in 
subsequent  years ;  but  the  idea  of  social  equality  of  slave 
and  master  was  so  repulsive  to  the  white  people  of  the 
South  that  it  could  not  be  tolerated  under  any  sort  of 
government." 

"  This  question  of  social  equality,"  remarked  Percy, 
"  has  probably  been  the  cause  of  more  misunderstanding 
between  the  North  and  the  South  than  all  other  questions 
relating  to  the  negro  problem.  I  have  rarely,  if  ever, 
talked  with  a  Southern  man  who  did  not  have  it  firmly 
fixed  in  his  mind  that  the  common  idea  of  the  Northern 
people  is  that  the  negro  race  should  be  made  the  social 
equal  of  the  white  race.  This  I  have  heard  from  Southern 
lecturers;  I  have  read  it  in  Southern  newspapers;  and  I 
have  found  it  in  books  written  by  Southern  authors ;  but, 
Mr.  West,  I  have  never  yet  heard  that  idea  advanced  by  a 
man  or  woman  of  the  North. 

"  Of  course  there  have  been  visionary  theorists  or 
'  cranks  '  in  all  ages,  and  there  must  have  been  some  basis 
for  this  almost  universal  erroneous  opinion  in  the  South 
that  the  people  of  the  North  advocated  social  equality  or 
social  intercourse  between  the  white  and  colored  races ;  and 
yet  nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  In  all  my 
life  in  the  North,  I  think  I  have  never  seen  a  colored  per- 
son dining  with  a  white  man.  This  does  not  prove  that 


62  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

there  are  no  such  occurrences,  but  it  certainly  shows  that 
they  are  extremely  rare.  On  the  other  hand,  in  traveling 
through  the  South  I  have  seen  a  white  woman  bring  her 
colored  maid  or  nurse  to  the  dining  car  to  sit  at  the 
same  table  with  herself  and  husband.  Of  course  there  is 
no  suggestion  of  social  equality  or  social  intercourse  in 
this,  but  there  is  much  closer  relationship  than  is  common, 
or  than  would  be  allowed  as  a  rule,  in  the  North." 

"  That  may  be  true,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  and  there  was 
in  slave  times  a  very  intimate  relationship  between  the 
negro  nurses  and  the  white  children  of  the  South.  Some 
of  our  people  are  ready  to  take  offense  at  the  suggestion 
that  we  talk  negro  dialect,  and  perhaps  we  would  all 
prefer  to  say  that  the  negroes  have  learned  to  talk  as  we 
talk;  but  the  truth  is  that  the  negroes  were  brought  to 
America  chiefly  as  adults ;  and,  as  is  usually  the  case  when 
adult  people  learn  a  new  language,  they  modified  ours  be- 
cause their  own  African  language  did  not  contain  all  of 
the  sounds  of  the  English  tongue.  Similarly  we  hear  and 
recognize  the  other  nationalities  when  they  learn  to  speak 
English.  Thus  we  have  the  Irish  brogue,  the  German 
brogue,  and  the  French  brogue,  or  dialect. 

"  The  negro  children  learned  to  speak  the  dialect  as 
spoken  by  their  own  parents ;  and  as  a  very  general  rule 
the  white  children  learned  to  talk  as  their  negro  nurses 
talked.  It  is  a  fact,  also,  that  the  white  and  colored  chil- 
dren played  much  together  on  the  plantations  during  slave 
times ;  and,  indeed,  this  is  not  at  all  uncommon  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  So  far  as  there  is  a  Southern  dialect  it  is  due 
to  the  modification  of  our  language  by  the  negro." 

"  You  have  mentioned  several  things,"  said  Percy, 
"  that  are  much  to  the  credit  of  the  negro  who  has  had  a 
fair  chance  to  be  trained  along  right  lines;  and  I  think 
the  modification  of  our  language  which  his  presence  has 


THE  SLAVE  AND  THE  FREEDMAN         63 

brought  about  in  the  South  is  not  without  some  credit. 
It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  most  pleasing  English  we 
hear  is  that  of  the  Southern  orator. 

"  Referring  to  social  conditions,  the  most  marked  dif- 
ference which  I  have  noticed  between  the  North  and  South, 
and  really,  it  seems  to  me,  the  only  difference  of  impor- 
tance, is  that  the  South  has  separate  schools  for  white  and 
colored,  whereas  in  the  North  the  school  is  not  looked  upon 
as  a  social  institution. 

"  As  a  rule  no  more  objection  is  raised  to  white  and  col- 
ored children  sitting  on  separate  seats  in  the  same  school 
room  than  to  their  sitting  on  separate  seats  in  the  same 
street  car.  The  school  is  regarded  as  a  place  for  work, 
where  each  has  his  own  work  to  do,  much  the  same  as  in 
the  shop  or  factory  where  both  white  and  colored  are  em- 
ployed. The  expense  of  the  single  school  system  is,  of 
course,  much  less  than  where  separate  schools  are  main- 
tained ;  and  perhaps  an  equally  important  point  is  that  in 
the  single  system  the  same  moral  standards  are  held  up  by 
the  teachers  for  both  white  and  colored  children." 

"  That  point  is  worthy  of  consideration,"  said  Mr. 
West.  "  It  is  very  certain  that  a  class  of  negroes  has 
grown  up  in  these  more  recent  years  that  was  practically 
unknown  in  slave  times  when  white  men  were  more  largely 
responsible  for  their  moral  training.  The  vile  wretches 
who  made  the  attack  this  evening  probably  never  received 
any  moral  training.  It  is  conceivable  that  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  the  white  children  over  the  negroes  in  the  same 
school  might  exert  a  lasting  benefit,  even  aside  from  the 
influence  of  the  teacher ;  and  the  relationship  of  the  school 
room  could  not  be  any  real  disadvantage  to  the  white  child. 
But  this  could  only  be  brought  about  where  white  teachers 
were  employed.  Some  such  arrangement  would  doubtless 
have  been  made  had  the  mind  of  Lincoln  directed  the  gen- 


64  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

eral  policy  of  reconstruction ;  but  it  is  doubtful  now  if  the 
negro  teacher  will  ever  be  wholly  replaced,  although  time 
has  wrought  greater  changes  in  political  lines  since  the 
black  years  of  the  reconstruction." 

"  Yes,"  said  Percy,  "  and  those  changes  which  have  been 
brought  about  in  the  South  have  the  full  sympathy  and 
approval  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Northern  people. 
Indeed,  it  is  extremely  doubtful  if  the  North  will  be  able 
to  completely  banish  such  a  source  of  vice  and  corruption 
as  the  open  saloon  until  some  limitation  is  placed  upon  the 
franchise  by  an  educational  qualification." 

"  I  think  you  are  quite  right  in  that,"  replied  Mr.  West. 
"  To  be  frank,  Sir,  we  must  admit  that  the  government  of 
the  United  States  is  still  in  the  experimental  stage.  We 
should  not  forget  that  the  Roman  Republic  endured  for 
five  centures.  The  government  of  Carthage  was  essentially 
republican  in  form,  and  so  just  were  its  laws  and  so  wisely 
administered  that  six  hundred  years  of  Carthaginian  his- 
tory reveal  not  a  single  revolution. 

"  Government  is  simple,  and,  indeed,  almost  unnecessary, 
in  a  country  with  plenty  of  room  and  abundant  opportuni- 
ties for  all  of  the  inhabitants ;  but  government  participated 
in  by  the  ignorant  and  indolent,  easily  influenced  by  the 
unscrupulous  and  grasping  politician,  is  neither  wise  nor 
safe. 

"I  would  not  say:  'In  time  of  peace,  prepare  for 
xwar;'  but,  rather,  in  time  of  peaceful  plenty  and  general 
intelligence,  prepare  for  the  perpetuity  and  permanent 
prosperity  of  the  nation." 


CHAPTER    XI 

JUDGMENT  is  COME 

THE  goddess  of  sleep  seemed  to  have  deserted  West- 
over.  Adelaide  lay  in  her  mother's  arms,  either 
-  awake  and  restless  or  in  fitful  sleep  from  which  she 
frequently  awoke  with  a  muffled  scream  or  a  physical  con- 
tortion. Once,  as  she  nestled  closer,  her  mother  heard  her 
murmur :  "  You  must  pardon  me." 

Percy,  from  the  southwest  room,  was  sure  he  heard 
horses'  feet  at  the  side  gate.  The  murmur  of  low  voices 
reached  his  ear,  and  then  he  recognized  that  horsemen  were 
riding  away. 

The  house  was  astir  at  early  dawn ;  and  as  soon  as  break- 
fast was  over  Mr.  West  had  the  colts  hitched  to  the  "  buck- 
board  "  and  he  drove  with  Percy  to  Montplain. 

"  I  think  your  testimony  will  not  be  needed  this  morn- 
ing," said  Mr.  West,  "  but  it  may  be  needed  later,  and  it 
is  well  that  you  should  report  to  the  officers  at  any  rate, 
since  you  promised  to  be  there  this  morning." 

Percy  pointed  out  the  place  where  the  attack  had  been 
made,  and  he  looked  for  a  stump  of  a  small  tree  or  for  any 
other  object  upon  which  the  negro  could  have  fallen  with 
such  force  as  to  mash  his  eye;  but  he  saw  nothing. 

As  soon  as  they  reached  the  village,  Mr.  West  drove 
directly  to  the  town  house ;  and  there  two  black  bodies  were 
seen  hanging  from  the  limb  of  an  old  tree  in  the  court- 
house yard. 

Percy  noted  that  his  companion  showed  no  sign  of  sur- 

65 


66  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

prise ;  and,  after  the  first  shock  of  his  complete  realization 
of  the  work  of  the  night,  he  looked  calmly  upon  the  scene. 
They  had  stopped  almost  under  the  tree. 

"  Are  these  the  brutes  who  made  the  attack  and  whom 
you  captured  and  delivered  to  the  officer?  "  asked  Mr. 
West. 

"  They  are." 

"  In  your  opinion  have  they  received  justice?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  Percy  replied,  "  but  I  fear  without  due 
process  of  law." 

"  Let  me  tell  you,  Sir,  there  is  no  law  on  the  statutes 
under  which  justice  could  be  meted  out  to  these  devils  for 
the  nameless  crime  which  ends  in  death  by  murder  or  by 
suicide  of  the  helpless  victim,  a  crime  which  these  wretches 
committed  only  in  their  black  hearts — thanks  to  you,  Sir." 

As  he  spoke  the  town  marshall  approached  followed  by 
the  negro  pastor  of  the  local  church  and  a  few  of  his  fol- 
lowers. Silently  they  lowered  the  bodies  to  the  ground, 
placed  them  upon  improvised  stretchers,  and  carried  them 
to  the  potters'  field  outside  the  village,  where  rough  coffins 
and  graves  were  ready  to  receive  them. 

As  Mr.  West  and  Percy  returned  to  Westover  they  dis- 
cussed the  lands  which  in  the  main  were  lying  abandoned 
on  either  side  of  the  road. 

"  Here,"  said  Mr.  West,  as  he  paused  on  the  brow  of  a 
sloping  hillside,  "  was  as  near  to  Westover  as  the  Union 
army  came.  The  position  of  the  breastworks  may  still  be 
seen.  The  Southern  army  lay  across  the  valley  yonder. 
These  two  trees  are  sprouts  from  an  old  stump  of  a  tree 
that  was  shot  away.  About  seventeen  hundred  confederate 
dead  were  buried  in  trenches  in  the  valley,  but  they  were 
later  removed.  The  federal  dead  were  carried  away  as  the 
Union  army  retreated.  We  never  learned  their  number. 
For  three  days  Westover  was  made  headquarters  of  the 


JUDGMENT  IS  COME  67 

confederate  officers,  and  my  mother  worked  day  and  night 
to  prepare  food  for  them." 

They  stopped  at  Westover  for  a  few  moments,  Percy  re- 
maining in  the  "  buckboard  "  while  Mr.  West  reported  to 
his  family  what  they  had  seen  in  Montplain. 

"  Our  report,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  hideous  and  horrible  as 
it  is,  will  help  to  restore  the  child  to  calm  and  quiet.  To 
speak  frankly,  Sir,  occurrences  of  this  sort,  sometimes  with 
the  worst  results,  are  sufficiently  frequent  in  the  South  so 
that  we  constantly  feel  the  added  weight  or  burden  when- 
ever the  sister,  wife,  or  daughter  is  left  without  adequate 
protection." 

The  remaining  hours  of  the  morning  were  devoted  to  a 
drive  over  the  country  surrounding  Westover;  and  Mr. 
West  consented  to  Adelaide's  request  that  she  be  allowed  to 
drive  Percy  to  the  station  at  Montplain,  where  he  was  to 
take  the  afternoon  train  for  Richmond.  She  chose  the 
"  buckboard  "  but  insisted  upon  driving. 

They  talked  of  their  school  and  college  days,  of  the  books 
they  had  read,  of  anything  in  fact  except  of  the  experiences 
of  the  past  twenty-four  hours.  Even  when  they  entered 
the  valley  no  shadow  crossed  Adelaide's  face;  but  as  they 
neared  the  station  her  voice  changed,  and  as  Percy  looked 
into  her  winsome,  frankly  upturned  face,  she  said : 

"  Have  I  truly  been  pardoned  for  my  cruel  words  last 
evening?  I  am  sure  you  were  as  manly  and  noble  as  any 
man  could  have  been." 

"  And  I  am  sure  you  were  the  bravest  little  woman  I  have 
ever  known,"  replied  Percy,  "  and  I  admire  you  the  more 
for  calling  me  a  coward  when  you  thought  I  was  running 
away ;  so  there  is  nothing  to  pardon  I  am  sure." 

She  gave  him  her  hand  as  a  child  at  parting,  but  he 
thought  as  he  looked  into  her  eyes  that  he  saw  the  soul  of  a 
woman. 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE  RESTORATION 

PERCY  carried  with  him  a  most  interesting  and  at- 
tractive circular  of  information  concerning  the 
rapid  restoration  of  the  farm  lands  of  the 
South.  It  also  stated  that  further  information  could  be 
secured  from  a  certain  real  estate  agent  in  Richmond,  who 
was  found  to  be  still  in  his  office  when  Percy  arrived  in  the 
city  late  in  the  afternoon. 

The  agent  was  delighted  to  receive  a  call  from  the  West- 
ern man,  and  assured  him  that  he  would  gladly  show  him 
several  plantations  not  far  from  the  city  which  could  be 
purchased  at  very  reasonable  prices.  Indeed  he  could 
have  his  choice  of  these  old  Southern  homesteads  for  the 
very  low  price  of  forty  dollars  an  acre.  A  map  of  an  ad- 
joining county  showed  the  exact  location  of  several  such 
farms,  some  of  which  were  of  great  historical  interest. 
At  what  time  in  the  morning  could  he  be  ready  to  be  shown 
one  of  these  rare  bargains? 

"  What  treatment  do  these  lands  require  to  restore  their 
productiveness  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  No  treatment  at  all,  Sir,  except  the  adoption  of  your 
Western  methods  of  farming  and  your  system  of  crop  ro- 
tation. I  tell  you  the  results  are  marvelous  when  Western 
farmers  get  hold  of  these  famous  old  plantations.  Just 
good  farming  and  a  change  of  crops,  that's  all  they  need." 

"  Does  clover  grow  well  ?  "  asked  Percy.  "  We  grow 
that  a  good  deal  in  the  West." 

"  Oh,  yes,  clover  will  grow  very  well,  indeed,  but  cowpeas 

68 


THE  RESTORATION  69 

is  a  much  better  crop  than  clover.  Our  best  farmers  pre- 
fer the  cowpea ;  and  after  a  crop  of  cowpeas,  you  can  raise 
large  crops  of  any  kind." 

"  Of  course  you  know  of  those  who  have  been  successful 
in  restoring  some  of  these  old  farms,"  Percy  suggested. 

"  Oh,  yes,  Sir,  many  of  them,  and  they  are  making 
money  hand  over  fist,  and  their  lands  are  increasing  in 
value,  and  no  doubt  will  continue  to  increase  just  as  your 
Western  lands  have  done.  Yes,  Sir,  the  greatest  opportu- 
nity for  investment  in  land  is  right  here  and  now,  and  these 
old  plantations  are  being  snapped  up  very  rapidly." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  know  of  some  of  these  successful 
farmers  who  are  using  the  improved  methods.  Will  you 
name  one,  just  as  an  example,  and  tell  me  about  what  he 
has  done  to  restore  his  land?  " 

"  Well,"  said  the  agent,  "  There's  T.  0.  Thornton,  for 
example.  Mr.  Thornton  bought  an  old  plantation  of  a 
thousand  acres  only  six  years  ago  at  a  cost  of  six  dollars 
an  acre.  He  has  been  growing  cowpeas  in  rotation  with 
other  crops ;  and,  as  I  say,  he  is  making  money  hand  over 
fist.  A  few  months  ago  he  refused  to  consider  fifty  dol- 
lars an  acre  for  his  land,  but  still  there  are  some  of  these 
old  plantations  left  that  can  be  bought  for  forty  dollars, 
because  the  people  don't  really  know  what  they  are  worth. 
However,  our  lands  are  all  much  higher  than  they  were  a 
few  years  ago." 

"  Where  does  Mr.  Thornton  live?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  Oh,  he  lives  at  Blairville,  nearly  a  hundred  miles  from 
Richmond.  Yes,  he  lives  on  his  farm  near  Blairville.  I 
tell  you  he's  making  good  all  right,  but  I  don't  know  of 
any  land  for  sale  in  that  section." 

"  I  think  I  will  go  out  to  Blairville  to  see  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton's farm,"  said  Percy.  "  Do  you  know  when  the  trains 
run?" 


70  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Well,  I'm  sorry  to  say  that  the  train  service  is  very 
poor  to  Blairville.  There  is  only  one  train  a  day  that 
reaches  Blairville  in  daylight,  and  that  leaves  Richmond 
very  early  in  the  morning." 

"  That  is  all  right,"  said  Percy,  "  it  will  probably  get 
me  there  in  time  so  that  I  shall  be  sure  to  find  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton at  home.  I  thank  you  very  much,  Sir.  Perhaps  I 
shall  be  able  to  see  you  again  when  I  return  from  Blair- 
ville." 

"  When  you  return  from  Blairville  is  about  the  most  un- 
certain thing  in  the  world.  As  I  said,  the  train  service  is 
mighty  poor  to  Blairville,  and  it's  still  poorer,  you'll  find, 
when  you  want  to  leave  Blairville.  Why,  a  traveling  man 
told  me  he  had  been  on  the  road  for  fifteen  years,  and  he 
swore  he  had  spent  seven  of  'em  at  Blairville  waiting  for 
trains.  Better  take  my  advice  and  look  over  some  of  the 
fine  old  plantations  right  here  in  the  next  county,  and  then 
you  can  take  all  the  rest  of  the  month  if  you  wish  getting 
in  and  out  of  Blairville." 

About  eight  o'clock  the  following  morning  Percy  might 
have  been  seen  walking  along  the  railroad  which  ran 
through  Mr.  Thornton's  farm  about  two  miles  from  Blair- 
ville. He  saw  a  well  beaten  path  which  led  from  the  rail- 
road to  a  near-by  cottage  and  a  knock  brought  to  the  door 
a  negro  woman  followed  by  several  children. 

"  Can  you  tell  me  where  Mr.  Thornton's  farm  is?  "  he 
inquired. 

"  Yes,  Suh,  "  she  replied.  "  This  is  Mistah  Tho'nton's 
place,  right  heah,  Suh.  Leastways,  it  was  his  place;  but 
we  done  bought  twenty  acahs  of  it  heah,  wheah  we  live, 
'cept  tain  all  paid  fo'  yit.  Mistah  Tho'nton  lives  in  the 
big  house  over  theah  'bout  half  a  mile." 

"  May  I  ask  what  you  have  to  pay  for  land  here?  " 

"  Oh,  we  have  to  pay  ten  dollahs  an  acah,  cause  we  can't 


THE  RESTORATION  71 

pay  cash.  My  o?  man  he  wo'ks  on  the  railroad  section 
and  we  just  pay  Mr.  Tho'nton  foh  dollahs  every  month. 
My  chil'n  wo'k  in  the  ga'den  and  tend  that  acah  patch 
o5  co'n." 

"  Do  you  fertilize  the  corn  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Suh.  We  can't  grow  nothin*  heah  without 
fe'tilizah.  We  got  two  hundred  pounds  fo'  three  dollahs 
last  spring  and  planted  it  with  the  co'n." 

As  Percy  turned  in  at  Mr.  Thornton's  gate  he  saw  a 
white  man  and  two  negroes  working  at  the  barn.  "  Par- 
don me,  but  is  this  Mr.  Thornton?"  asked  Percy  as  he 
approached. 

"  That  is  my  name." 

"  Well,  my  name  is  Johnston.  I  am  especially  inter- 
ested in  learning  all  I  can  about  the  farm  lands  in  this 
section  and  the  best  methods  of  farming.  I  live  in  Illi- 
nois, and  have  thought  some  of  selling  our  little  farm  out 
there  and  buying  a  larger  one  here  in  the  East  where  the 
land  is  much  cheaper  than  with  us.  A  real  estate  agent 
in  Richmond  has  told  me  something  of  the  progress  you 
are  making  in  the  improvement  of  your  large  farm.  I 
hope  you  will  not  let  me  interfere  with  your  work,  Sir." 

"  Oh,  this  work  is  not  much.  I've  had  a  little  lumber 
sawed  at  a  mill  which  is  running  just  now  over  beyond  my 
farm,  and  I  am  trying  to  put  a  shed  up  here  over  part  of 
the  barn-yard  so  we  can  save  more  of  the  manure.  I  shall 
be  very  glad  to  give  you  any  information  I  can  either 
about  my  own  farming  or  about  the  farm  lands  in  this 
section." 

"  You  have  about  a  thousand  acres  in  your  farm  I  was 
told." 

"  Yes,  we  still  have  some  over  nine  hundred  acres  in  the 
place,  but  we  are  farming  only  about  two  hundred  acres, 
including  the  meadow  and  pasture  land.  The  other  seven 


72  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

hundred  acres  are  not  fenced,  and,  as  you  will  see,  the  land 
is  mostly  grown  up  to  scrub  trees." 

"  Your  corn  appears  to  be  a  very  good  crop.  About 
how  many  acres  of  corn  do  you  have  this  year?  " 

"  I  have  only  fourteen  acres.  That  is  all  I  could  cover 
with  manure,  and  it  is  hardly  worth  trying  to  raise  corn 
without  manure." 

"  Do  you  use  any  commercial  fertilizer  ?  " 

**  Well,  I've  been  using  some  bone  meal.  I've  no  use  for 
the  ordinary  complete  commercial  fertilizer.  It  sometimes 
helps  a  little  for  one  year;  but  it  seems  to  leave  the  land 
poorer  than  ever.  Bone  meal  lasts  longer  and  doesn't  seem 
to  hurt  the  land.  I  see  from  the  agricultural  papers  that 
some  of  the  experiment  stations  report  good  results  from 
the  use  of  fine-ground  raw  rock  phosphate ;  but  they  advise 
using  it  in  connection  with  organic  matter,  such  as  manure 
or  clover  plowed  under.  I  am  planning  to  get  some  and 
mix  it  with  the  manure  here  under  this  shed.  Do  you  use 
commercial  fertilizers  in  Illinois  ?  " 

"  Not  to  speak  of,  but  some  of  our  farmers  are  begin- 
ning to  use  the  raw  phosphate.  Our  experiment  station 
has  found  that  our  most  extensive  soil  types  are  not  rich 
in  phosphorus  and  has  republished  for  our  benefit  the  re- 
ports from  the  Maryland  and  Ohio  experiment  stations 
showing  that  the  fine-ground  natural  rock  phosphate  ap- 
pears to  be  the  most  economical  form  to  be  used  and  that 
it  is  likely  to  prove  much  more  profitable  in  the  long  run, 
although  it  may  not  give  very  marked  results  the  first  year 
or  two.  May  I  ask  what  products  you  sell  from  your 
farm,  Mr.  Thornton?" 

"  I  sell  cream.  I  have  a  special  trade  in  Richmond,  and 
I  ship  my  cream  direct  to  the  city.  I  also  sell  a  few  hogs 
and  some  wheat.  I  usually  put  wheat  after  corn,  and 
have  fourteen  acres  of  wheat  seeded  between  the  corn 


THE  RESTORATION  73 

shocks  over  there.  Sometimes  I  don't  get  the  wheat 
seeded,  and  then  I  put  the  land  in  cowpeas.  I  usually 
raise  about  twenty-five  acres  of  cowpeas,  and  the  rest  of 
the  cleared  land  I  use  for  meadow  and  pasture.  I  usually 
sow  timothy  after  cowpeas,  and  I  like  to  break  up  as  much 
old  pasture  land  for  corn  as  I  can  put  manure  on." 

"  I  was  told  that  you  had  been  offered  fifty  dollars  an 
acre  for  your  farm,  Mr.  Thornton,  but  that  you  would  not 
consider  the  offer." 

Mr.  Thornton  laughed  heartily  at  this  remark. 

"  That  must  have  come  from  the  Richmond  land  agent," 
he  said.  "  Someone  else  was  telling  me  that  story  a  short 
time  ago.  The  fact  is  one  of  those  real  estate  agents  was 
out  here  last  spring  and  he  asked  me  if  I  would  consider 
an  offer  of  fifty  dollars  an  acre  for  our  land.  I  told  him 
that  I  didn't  think  I  would  so  long  as  anyone  who 
wishes  to  buy  can  get  all  the  land  he  wants  in  this  section 
for  five  or  ten  dollars  an  acre.  That's  as  near  as  I  came 
to  having  an  offer  of  fifty  dollars  an  acre  for  this  land. 
The  land  adjoining  me  on  the  south  is  for  sale,  and  I  am 
sure  you  could  buy  that  farm  of  about  seven  hundred  acres 
for  four  dollars  an  acre  after  they  get  the  timber  off. 
Some  of  the  land  has  not  been  cropped  for  a  hundred  years, 
I  guess  ;  and  there  are  a  few  trees  on  it  that  are  big  enough 
for  light  saw-stuff.  A  man  has  bought  the  timber  that  is 
worth  cutting,  and  he  is  running  a  saw  over  there  now; 
but  he'll  get  out  all  that's  good  for  anything  in  a  few 
months." 

"  May  I  ask  how  long  you  have  been  farming  here,  Mr. 
Thornton?" 

"  Twelve  years  on  this  farm,"  he  replied.  "  You  see 
this  estate  was  left  to  my  wife  and  her  sister,  who  still  lives 
with  us.  We  were  married  twelve  years  ago  and  I  have 
been  working  ever  since  to  make  a  living  for  us  on  this  old 


74  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

worn-out  farm.  Of  course  I  have  made  some  little  im- 
provements about  the  barns,  but  we've  sold  a  little  land 
too.  The  railroad  company  wanted  about  an  acre  down 
where  that  little  stream  crosses,  for  a  water  supply,  and 
I  got  twelve  hundred  dollars  for  that." 

"  Now,  I've  already  taken  too  much  of  your  time,"  said 
Percy.  "  I  thank  you  for  your  kindness  in  giving  me  so 
much  information.  If  there  is  no  objection  I  shall  be  glad 
to  take  a  walk  about  over  your  farm  and  the  adjoining 
land,  and  perhaps  I  can  see  you  again  for  a  few  moments 
when  I  return." 

"  Certainly,"  Mr.  Thornton  replied.  "  There  is  no  ob- 
jection whatsoever.  We  are  going  to  Blair ville  this  morn- 
ing, but  we  shall  be  back  before  noon  and  I  shall  be  glad 
to  see  you  then.  I  fear  you  have  been  given  some  misin- 
formation by  the  real  estate  agents.  Some  of  them,  by 
the  way,  are  Northern  men  who  came  down  here  and  bought 
land  and  when  they  found  they  could  not  make  a  living  on 
it,  they  sold  it  to  other  land  hunters,  and  I  suppose  that 
they  made  so  much  in  the  deal  that  they  stayed  right  here 
as  real  estate  agents.  They  are  great  advertisers ;  but  I 
reckon  our  Southern  real  estate  men  can  just  about  keep 
even.  The  agent  who  was  out  here  last  spring  told  me  he 
showed  one  Northern  man  a  farm  for  $12  an  acre  and  he 
was  afraid  to  buy.  Then  he  took  him  into  another  county 
and  showed  him  a  poorer  farm  for  $45  and  he  bought  that 
at  once. 

"  The  road  there  runs  out  through  the  fields.  Our  land 
runs  back  to  the  other  public  road  and  beyond  that  is  the 
farm  I  told  you  of  where  the  saw  mill  is  running.  I've  got 
some  pretty  good  cowpeas  you'll  pass  by.  I  haven't  got 
them  off  the  racks  yet." 

Percy  found  the  cowpea  hay  piled  in  large  shocks  over 
tripods  made  of  short  stout  poles  which  served  to  keep  the 


THE  RESTORATION  75 

hay  off  the  ground  to  some  extent,  and  this  permitted  the 
cowpeas  to  be  cured  in  larger  piles  and  with  less  danger 
of  loss  from  molding. 

"  I  find  that  the  soil  on  your  farm  and  on  the  other 
farms  is  very  generally  acid,"  said  Percy  a  few  hours 
later  when  Mr.  Thornton  asked  what  he  thought  of  the 
conditions  of  farming.  "  Have  you  used  any  lime  for  im- 
proving the  soil?  " 

"  Yes,  I  tried  it  about  ten  years  ago,  and  it  helped  some, 
but  not  enough  to  make  it  pay.  I  put  ten  barrels  on  about 
three  acres.  I  thought  it  helped  the  corn  and  wheat  a 
little,  and  it  showed  right  to  the  line  where  I  put  cowpeas 
on  the  land,  but  I  don't  think  it  paid,  and  it's  mighty  dis- 
agreeable stuff  to  handle." 

"  Do  you  remember  how  much  it  cost  ?  "  Percy  asked. 

"  Yes,  Sir.  The  regular  price  was  a  dollar  a  barrel, 
but  by  taking  ten  barrels  I  got  the  ton  for  eight  dollars ; 
but  I'd  a  heap  sight  rather  have  eight  dollars'  worth  of 
bone  meal." 

"  I  think  the  lime  would  be  a  great  help  to  clover,"  said 
Percy. 

"  Yes,  that  might  be.  They  tell  me  that  they  used  to 
grow  lots  of  clover  here ;  but  it  played  out  completely,  and 
nobody  sows  clover  now,  except  occasionally  on  an  old  feed 
lot  which  is  rich  enough  to  grow  anything.  It  takes 
mighty  good  land  to  grow  clover;  but  cowpeas  are  better 
for  us.  They  do  pretty  well  for  this  old  land,  only  the 
seed  costs  too  much,  and  they  make  a  sight  of  work,  and 
they're  mighty  hard  to  get  cured.  You  see  they  aren't 
ready  for  hay  till  the  hot  weather  is  mostly  past.  If  we 
could  handle  them  in  June  and  July,  as  we  do  timothy, 
we'd  have  no  trouble;  but  we  don't  get  cowpeas  planted 
till  June,  and  September  is  a  poor  time  for  haying." 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  clover  is  a  much  more  satisfactory 


76  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

crop,"  said  Percy.  "  One  can  sow  clover  with  oats  in  the 
spring,  or  on  wheat  land  in  the  late  winter,  and  there  is 
no  more  trouble  with  it  until  it  is  ready  for  haying  about 
fifteen  months  later,  unless  the  land  is  weedy  or  the  clover 
makes  such  a  growth  the  first  fall  that  we  must  clip  it  to 
prevent  either  the  weeds  or  the  clover  from  seeding.  This 
means  that  when  you  are  plowing  your  ground  for  cow- 
peas  the  next  year  after  wheat  or  oats,  we  are  just  ready  to 
begin  harvesting  our  clover  hay;  and  besides  the  regular 
hay  crop  we  usually  have  some  growth  the  fall  before  which 
is  left  on  the  land  as  a  fertilizer,  and  then  we  get  a  second 
crop  of  clover  which  we  save  either  for  hay  or  seed.  Even 
after  the  seed  crop  is  harvested  there  is  usually  some  later 
fall  growth,  and  some  let  the  clover  stand  till  it  grows 
some  more  the  next  spring  and  then  plow  it  under  for 
corn." 

"  I  can  see  that  clover  would  be  much  better  than  cow- 
peas  if  we  could  grow  it;  but,  as  I  said,  it's  played  out 
here.  Our  land  simply  won't  grow  it  any  more.  Not  hav- 
ing to  plow  for  clover  would  save  a  great  deal  of  the  work 
we  must  do  for  our  cowpeas." 

"  Some  of  our  farmers  follow  a  three-year  rotation  and 
plow  the  ground  only  once  in  three  years,"  said  Percy. 
"  They  plow  the  ground  for  corn,  disk  it  the  next  spring 
when  oats  and  clover  are  seeded,  and  then  leave  the  land  in 
clover  the  next  year.  In  that  way  they  regularly  harvest 
four  crops,  including  the  two  clover  crops,  from  only  one 
plowing ;  and  in  exceptional  seasons  I  have  known  an  extra 
crop  of  clover  hay  to  be  harvested  in  the  late  fall  on  the 
land  where  the  oats  were  grown. 

"  In  regard  to  the  lime  question,"  Percy  continued,  "  I 
wonder  if  you  know  of  the  work  the  Pennsylvania  Experi- 
ment Station  has  been  doing  with  the  use  of  ground  lime- 
stone in  comparison  with  burned  lime." 


THE  RESTORATION  77 

"  No,  I  never  heard  of  ground  limestone  being  used.  I 
supposed  it  had  to  be  burned.  I  should  think  it  would  be 
very  expensive  to  grind  limestone." 

"  No,  it  costs  much  less  to  grind  it  than  to  burn  it," 
Percy  replied.  "  Mills  are  used  for  grinding  rock  in  ce- 
ment manufacture,  and  the  rock  phosphate  and  bone  meal 
must  be  ground  before  using  them  either  for  direct  applica- 
tion or  for  the  manufacture  of  acidulated  fertilizers ;  and 
limestone  is  not  so  hard  to  grind  as  some  other  rocks. 
Furthermore  it  does  not  need  to  be  so  very  finely  ground. 
If  fine  enough  so  that  it  will  pass  through  a  sieve  with  ten 
meshes  to  the  inch  it  does'  very  well.  That  you  see  would 
be  a  hundred  meshes  to  the  square  inch ;  and,  of  course,  a 
great  deal  of  it  will  be  much  finer  than  that.  In  fact  the 
ground  limestone  used  in  the  Pennsylvania  experiments  was 
only  fine  enough  so  that  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  it  would 
pass  a  sieve  with  ten  meshes  to  the  inch,  and  yet  the  lime- 
stone gave  decidedly  better  results  than  the  burned  lime, 
and  it  is  not  nearly  so  disagreeable  to  handle.  Besides 
this,  the  ground  limestone  is  much  less  expensive.  It  can 
be  obtained  at  most  points  in  Illinois  for  a  dollar  and  fifty 
cents  a  ton." 

"  A  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  ton !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton. "  Well,  that  is  cheap,  but  how  about  the  freight  and 
the  barrels  and  bags?  Freight  is  a  big  item  with  us." 

"  The  dollar  and  fifty  cents  includes  the  freight,"  was 
the  reply. 

"  Includes  the  cost  and  the  freight  both?  " 

''  Yes,  and  the  Illinois  farmers  have  it  shipped  in  bulk, 
so  there  is  no  expense  for  barrels  or  bags.  Of  course  the 
supplies  of  both  coal  and  limestone  are  very  abundant,  and 
with  a  well-equipped  plant  the  actual  cost  of  grinding  does 
not  exceed  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  The  original  cost  of 
the  material  ground  and  on  board  cars  at  the  works  varies 


78  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

from  about  sixty  cents  to  one  dollar  a  ton,  and  this  leaves 
a  very  fair  margin  of  profit. 

"  The  men  who  furnish  the  ground  limestone  realize  that 
very  large  quantities  of  it  are  needed  if  the  soils  of  Illinois 
are  to  be  kept  fertile,  and  they  also  realize  that  the  ulti- 
mate prosperity  of  the  country  depends  upon  agricultural 
prosperity.  Their  far-sightedness  and  patriotism  com- 
bine to  lead  them  to  try  to  sell  carloads  of  limestone  in- 
stead of  tons  of  burned  lime.  As  a  matter  of  fact  five  or 
ten  dollars  profit  on  a  car  of  limestone,  the  use  of  which 
in  large  quantities  is  thus  made  possible  in  systems  of  posi- 
tive soil  improvement,  is  very  much  better  for  all  concerned 
than  a  profit  of  half  that  much  on  a  single  ton  of  burned 
lime  which  is  used  as  a  soil  stimulant  in  systems  of  soil  ex- 
haustion." 

"It  is  certainly  true,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  "that  all 
other  great  industries  depend  upon  agriculture,  directly 
or  indirectly.  I  have  thought  of  it  many  times.  It  seems 
to  me  that  fishing  is  about  the  only  exception  of  impor- 
tance." 

Mr.  Thornton  requested  that  Percy  remain  for  lunch  in 
order  that  they  might  return  to  the  field  to  let  him  see  the 
soil  acidity  tests  made. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

WHY  PERCY  WENT  TO  COLLEGE 

/  £  TTAM  interested  to  know  where  you  learned  these 
things  about  acid  soils  and  lime  and  limestone," 
said  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  Mostly  in  the  agricultural  college,"  replied  Percy, 
"  but  much  of  the  information  really  comes  from  the  in- 
vestigations that  are  conducted  by  the  experiment  sta- 
tions. For  example,  the  best  information  the  world  af- 
fords concerning  the  comparative  value  of  burned  lime  and 
ground  limestone  is  furnished  by  the  Pennsylvania  Agri- 
cultural Experiment  Station.  Those  experiments  have 
been  carried  on  continuously  since  1882,  and  the  results 
of  twenty  years'  careful  investigations  have  recently  been 
published.  A  four-year  rotation  of  crops  was  practiced, 
including  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  hay,  the  hay  being  clover 
and  timothy  mixed.  With  every  crop  the  limestone  has 
given  better  results  than  the  burned  lime.  In  fact  the 
burned  lime  seems  to  have  produced  injurious  results  of 
late  years,  and  the  analysis  of  the  soil  shows  that  there 
has  been  large  loss  of  humus  and  nitrogen  where  the 
burned  lime  has  been  used,  the  actual  loss  being  equivalent 
to  the  destruction  of  more  than  two  tons  of  farm  manure 
per  acre  per  annum,  when  compared  with  limestone." 

"  Well,  we  surely  need  this  information,"  said  Mr. 
Thornton.  "  I  have  always  supposed  that  the  teachers 
in  the  agricultural  college  knew  little  or  nothing  of  prac- 
tical farming." 

"  I  did  not  go  to  college  to  learn  practical  farming,  if 

79 


80  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

we  mean  by  that  the  common  practice  of  agriculture," 
replied  Percy.  "  I  already  knew  what  we  call  practical 
farming;  that  is,  how  to  do  the  ordinary  farm  work,  in- 
cluding such  operations  as  plowing,  planting,  cultivating, 
and  harvesting;  but  it  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Thornton,  that 
this  sort  of  practical  farming  has  resulted  in  practical 
ruin  for  most  of  these  Eastern  lands.  The  fact  is  there 
is  a  side  to  agriculture  that  I  knew  almost  nothing  about 
as  a  so-called  practical  farmer,  and  I  am  coming  to  be- 
lieve that  what  we  commonly  call  practical  farming  is 
often  the  most  impractical  farming, —  certainly  this  is 
true  if  it  ultimately  results  in  depleted  and  abandoned 
lands.  The  truly  practical  farmer  is  the  man  who  knows 
not  only  how  to  do,  but  also  what  to  do  and  why  he  does 
it.  The  Simplon  railroad  tunnel  connecting  Switzerland 
with  Italy  is  twelve  miles  long, —  the  longest  in  the  world. 
It  was  dug  from  the  two  ends,  but  under  the  mountain, 
six  miles  from  either  end,  the  two  holes  came  together  ex- 
actly, within  a  limit  of  error  of  less  than  six  inches,  and 
made  one  continuous  tunnel  twelve  miles  long.  Now,  this 
was  not  all  accomplished  by  the  practical  men  who  knew 
how  to  handle  a  spade  in  digging  a  ditch.  The  work  was 
controlled  by  science,  and  it  was  known  in  advance  what 
the  results  would  be.  I  do  not  mean  that  it  was  known 
how  hard  the  digging  would  be,  nor  how  much  trouble 
would  be  caused  by  caving  or  by  water ;  but  it  was  known 
that  if  the  practical  work  was  done,  the  final  outcome 
would  be  an  error  of  less  than  six  inches  in  six  miles. 

"  I  think  it  is  even  more  important  that  we  understand 
enough  of  the  sciences  which  underlie  the  practice  of  agri- 
culture so  we  may  know  in  advance  that  when  the  practical 
farm  work  is  done  the  soil  will  be  richer  and  better  rather 
than  poorer  and  less  productive  because  of  our  impracti- 
cal farming. 


WHY  PERCY  WENT  TO  COLLEGE          81 

"  As  I  said,  I  did  not  go  to  the  agricultural  college  to 
learn  the  practice  or  art  of  farming;  I  went  to  learn  the 
science  of  agriculture;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  found 
the  college  professor  knew  about  as  much  of  practical 
agriculture  as  I  did  and  a  great  deal  of  science  that  I  did 
not  know.  I  found  that  the  Dean  of  the  College,  who  is 
also  Director  of  the  Experiment  Station,  had  been  born 
and  raised  on  the  farm,  had  done  all  kinds  of  farm  work, 
the  same  as  other  farm  boys,  had  gone  through  an  agri- 
cultural college,  and  after  his  graduation  had  returned  to 
the  farm  and  remained  there  for  ten  years  doing  his  work 
with  his  own  hands.  He  has  had  as  much  actual  farm  ex- 
perience as  you  have  had,  Mr.  Thornton,  and  ten  years 
more  than  I  have  had.  He  was  finally  called  from  the  farm 
to  become  an  assistant  in  the  college  from  which  he  was 
graduated,  and  in  a  few  years  he  was  advanced  to  head 
professor  in  agriculture.  About  ten  years  ago  he  was 
made  dean  and  director  of  the  agricultural  college  and  ex- 
periment station  in  my  own  state;  and  I  have  been  told 
that  he  will  not  recommend  any  one  for  a  responsible  po- 
sition in  an  agricultural  college  unless  he  has  had  both 
farm  experience  and  scientific  training.  He  and  most  of 
his  assocates  are  owners  of  farms  and  would  return  to 
them  again  if  they  did  not  feel  that  they  are  of  more 
service  to  agriculture  as  teachers  and  investigators." 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  know  about  this,"  said  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton. "  Certainly  your  opinion,  based  upon  such  knowledge 
as  you  have  of  your  own  college,  is  worth  more  than  all 
the  common  talk  I  have  ever  heard  from  those  who  never 
saw  an  agricultural  college.  I  wish  you  would  tell  me 
something  more  in  regard  to  what  crops  are  made  of  and 
about  the  methods  of  making  land  better  even  while 
we  are  taking  crops  from  it  every  year." 


CHAPTER    XIV 
A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE 

4  4  T  I  ^HE  subject  is  somewhat  complicated,"  Percy 
replied,  "  yet  it  involves  no  more  difficult 
problems  than  have  been  solved  in  many  other 
lines.  The  chief  trouble  is  that  we  have  done  too  little 
thinking  about  our  own  real  problems.  Even  in  the  coun- 
try schools  we  have  learned  something  of  banking  and 
various  other  lines  of  business,  something  of  the  history 
and  politics  of  this  and  other  countries,  something  of  the 
great  achievements  in  war,  in  discovery  and  exploration, 
in  art,  literature,  and  invention ;  but  we  have  not  learned 
what  our  soils  contain  nor  what  our  crops  require.  Not 
one  farmer  in  a  hundred  knows  what  chemical  elements  are 
absolutely  required  for  the  production  of  our  agricultural 
plants,  and  one  may  work  hard  on  the  farm  from  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  till  nine  o'clock  at  night  for  forty 
years  and  still  not  learn  what  corn  is  made  of. 

"  All  agricultural  plants  are  composed  of  ten  chemical 
elements,  and  the  growth  of  any  crop  is  absolutely  depend- 
ent upon  the  supply  of  these  plant-food  elements.  If  the 
supply  of  any  one  of  these  plant-food  elements  is  limited, 
the  crop  yield  will  also  be  limited.  The  grain  and  grass 
crops,  such  as  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  timothy,  also  the  root 
crops  and  potatoes,  secure  two  elements  from  the  air,  one 
from  water,  and  seven  from  the  soil. 

"  The  supply  of  some  elements  is  constantly  renewed  by 
natural  processes;  and  iron,  one  of  the  ten,  is  contained 

82 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  88 

in  all  normal  soils  in  absolutely  inexhaustible  amount; 
while  other  elements  become  deficient  and  the  supply  must 
be  renewed  by  man,  or  crop  yields  decrease  and  farming 
becomes  unprofitable. 

"  Matter  is  absolutely  indestructible.  It  may  change 
its  form,  but  not  a  pound  of  material  substance  can  be 
destroyed.  Matter  moves  in  cycles,  and  the  key  to  the 
problem  of  successful  permanent  agriculture  is  the  circu- 
lation of  plant  food.  While  some  elements  have  a  natural 
cycle  which  is  amply  sufficient  to  meet  all  requirements  for 
these  elements  as  plant  food,  other  elements  have  no  such 
cycle,  and  it  is  the  chief  business  of  the  farmer  to  make 
these  elements  circulate. 

"  Take  carbon,  for  example.  This  element  is  well  rep- 
resented by  hard  coal.  Soft  coal  and  charcoal  are  chiefly 
carbon.  The  diamond  is  pure  crystallized  carbon,  and 
charcoal  made  from  pure  sugar  is  pure  uncrystallized  car- 
bon. This  can  easily  be  made  by  heating  a  lump  of  sugar 
on  a  red  hot  stove  until  only  a  carbon  coal  remains.  Now 
these  different  solid  materials  represent  carbon  in  the  ele- 
mental form  or  free  state.  But  carbon  may  unite  with 
other  elements  to  form  chemical  compounds,  and  these  may 
be  solids,  liquids,  or  gases. 

"  Thus  carbon  and  sulfur  are  both  solid  elements,  one 
black  and  the  other  yellow,  as  generally  found.  If  these 
two  elements  are  mixed  together  under  ordinary  conditions 
no  change  occurs.  The  result  is  simply  a  mixture  of  car- 
bon and  sulfur.  But,  if  this  mixture  is  heated  in  a  retort 
which  excludes  the  air,  the  carbon  and  sulfur  unite  into  a 
chemical  compound  called  carbon  disulfid.  This  compound 
is  neither  black,  yellow,  nor  solid ;  but  it  is  a  colorless,  lim- 
pid liquid;  and  yet  it  contains  absolutely  nothing  except 
carbon  and  sulfur." 

"  That  seems  strange,"  remarked  Mr.  Thornton. 


84  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Yes,  but  similar  changes  are  going  on  about  us  all 
the  time,"  replied  Percy.  "We  put  ten  pounds  of  solid 
black  coal  in  the  stove  and  an  hour  later  we  find  nothing 
there,  except  a  few  ounces  of  ashes,  which  represent  the 
impurities  in  the  coal." 

"  Well,  the  coal  is  burned  up  and  destroyed,  is  it  not?  " 

"  The  carbon  is  burned  and  changed,  but  not  destroyed. 
In  this  case,  the  heat  has  caused  the  carbon  to  unite  with 
the  element  oxygen  which  exists  in  the  air  in  the  form  of 
a  gas,  and  a  chemical  compound  is  formed  which  we  call 
carbon  dioxid.  This  compound  is  a  colorless  gas.  This 
element  oxygen  enters  the  vent  of  the  stove  and  the  com- 
pound, carbon  dioxid,  passes  off  through  the  chimney.  If 
there  is  any  smoke,  it  is  due  to  small  particles  of  unburned 
carbon  or  other  colored  substances. 

"  As  a  rule  more  or  less  sulfur  is  contained  in  coal,  wood, 
and  other  organic  matter,  and  this  also  is  burned  to  sulfur 
dioxid  and  carried  into  the  air,  from  which  it  is  brought 
back  to  the  soil  in  rain  in  ample  amounts  to  supply  all  of 
the  sulfur  required  by  plants. 

"  Everywhere  over  the  earth  the  atmosphere  contains 
some  carbon  dioxid  and  this  compound  furnishes  all  agri- 
cultural plants  their  necessary  supply  of  both  carbon  and 
oxygen.  In  other  words,  these  are  the  two  elements  that 
plants  secure  from  the  air.  The  gas,  carbon  dioxid, 
passes  into  the  plant  through  the  breathing  pores  on  the 
under  side  of  the  leaves.  These  are  microscopic  openings 
but  very  numerous.  A  square  inch  of  a  corn  leaf  may 
have  a  hundred  thousand  breathing  pores." 

"  Now,  as  we  go  on,  I  am  especially  anxious  to  get  at 
this  question  of  supply  and  demand,"  said  Mr.  Thornton. 
"  I  think  I  understand  about  iron  and  sulfur,  and  also 
that  these  two  elements,  carbon  and  oxygen,  are  both  con- 
tained in  the  air  in  the  compound  called  carbon  dioxid,  and 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  85 

that  this  must  supply  our  crops  with  those  two  elements 
of  plant  food.  I'd  like  to  know  about  the  supply.  How 
much  is  there  in  the  air  and  how  much  do  the  crops  re- 
quire? " 

"  As  you  know,"  said  Percy,  "  the  atmospheric  pressure 
is  about  fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch." 

"  Yes,  I've  heard  that,  I  know." 

"  Well,  that  means,  of  course,  that  there  are  fifteen 
pounds  of  air  resting  on  every  square  inch  of  the  earth's 
surface;  in  other  words,  that  a  column  of  air  one  inch 
square  and  as  high  as  the  air  goes,  perhaps  fifty  miles  or 
more,  weighs  fifteen  pounds." 

"Yes,  that  is  very  clear.'* 

"  There  is  only  one  pound  of  carbon  in  ten  thousand 
pounds  of  ordinary  country  air.  Now,  there  are  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  square  rods  in  an  acre,  and  since  there  are 
twelve  inches  in  a  foot  and  sixteen  and  one-half  feet  in  a 
rod,  it  is  easy  to  compute  that  there  are  nearly  a  hundred 
million  pounds  of  air  on  an  acre,  and  that  the  carbon  in 
this  amounts  to  only  five  tons.  A  three-ton  crop  of  corn 
or  hay  contains  one  and  one-fourth  tons  of  the  element 
carbon ;  so  that  the  total  amount  of  the  carbon  in  the  air 
over  an  acre  of  land  is  sufficient  for  only  four  such  crops ; 
while  a  single  crop  of  corn  yielding  a  hundred  bushels 
to  the  acre,  such  as  we  often  raise  in  Illinois  on  old  feed- 
lots  or  other  pieces  of  well  treated  land,  would  require  half 
of  the  total  supply  of  carbon  contained  in  the  air  over  an 
acre.  However,  the  largest  crop  of  corn  ever  grown,  of 
which  there  is  an  established  authentic  record,  was  not 
raised  in  Illinois,  but  in  the  state  of  South  Carolina,  in  the 
county  of  Marlborough,  in  the  year  1889,  by  Z.  J. 
Drake ;  and,  according  to  the  authentic  report  of  the  offi- 
cial committee  that  measured  the  land  and  saw  the  crop 
harvested  and  weighed,  and  awarded  Drake  a  prize  or  five 


86  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

hundred  dollars  given  by  the  Orange  Judd  Publishing 
Company, —  according  to  this  very  creditable  evidence, 
that  acre  of  land  yielded  239  bushels  of  thoroughly  air- 
dried  corn ;  and  such  a  crop$  Mr.  Thornton,  would  require 
as  much  carbon  as  the  total  amount  contained  in  the  air 
over  an  acre  of  land." 

"  Well,  that  is  astonishing !  Then  there  must  be  some 
other  source  of  supply  besides  the  air." 

"  There  is  no  other  direct  source  from  which  plants  se- 
cure carbon;  but  of  course  the  air  is  in  constant  motion. 
Only  one-fourth  of  the  earth's  surface  is  land,  and  per- 
haps only  one-fourth  of  this  land  is  cropped,  and  the 
average  crop  is  about  one-fourth  of  three  tons;  so  that 
the  total  present  supply  of  carbon  in  the  air  would  be 
sufficient  for  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  But  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  supply  is  permanently  maintained  by 
the  carbon  cycle.  Thus  the  carbon  of  coal  that  is  burned 
in  the  stove  returns  to  the  air  in  carbon  dioxid;  and  all 
combustion  of  coal  and  wood,  grass  and  weeds,  and  all 
other  vegetable  matter  returns  carbon  to  the  atmosphere. 
All  decay  of  organic  matter,  as  in  the  fermentation  of 
manure  in  the  pile  and  the  rotting  of  vegetable  matter  in 
the  soil,  is  a  form  of  slow  combustion  and  carbon  dioxid 
is  the  chief  produce  of  such  decay.  Sometimes  an  ap- 
preciable amount  of  heat  is  developed,  as  in  the  steaming 
pile  of  stable  refuse  lying  in  the  barn-yard,  while  the  heat 
evolved  in  the  soil  is  too  quickly  disseminated  to  be  ap- 
parent. 

"  In  addition  to  all  this,  every  animal  exhales  carbon 
dioxid.  The  body  heat  and  the  animal  force  or  energy 
are  supplied  by  the  combustion  of  organic  food  within  the 
body,  and  here,  too,  carbon  dioxid  is  the  chief  product  of 
combustion. 

"  Thus,  as  a  general  average  the  amount  of  carbon  re- 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  87 

moved  from  the  atmosphere  by  growing  plants  is  no 
greater  than  the  amount  returned  to  the  air  by  these 
various  forms  of  combustion  or  decay.  In  like  manner 
the  supply  of  combined  oxygen  is  maintained,  both  carbon 
and  oxygen  being  furnished  to  the  plant  in  the  carbon 
dioxid. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  air  consists  very  largely  of 
oxygen  and  nitrogen,  both  in  the  free  state,  but  in  this 
form  these  elements  cannot  be  utilized  in  the  growth  of 
agricultural  plants.  The  only  apparent  exception  to 
this  is  in  case  of  legume  crops,  such  as  clover,  alfalfa, 
peas,  beans,  and  vetch,  which  have  power  to  utilize  the  free 
nitrogen  by  means  of  their  symbiotic  relationship  with 
certain  nitrogen-fixing  bacteria  which  live,  or  may  live, 
in  tubercles  on  their  roots. 

"  Carbon  and  oxygen  constitute  about  ninety  per  cent, 
of  the  dry  matter  of  ordinary  farm  crops,  and  with  the 
addition  of  hydrogen  very  important  plant  constituents 
are  produced;  such  as  starch,  sugar,  fiber,  or  cellulose, 
which  constitute  the  carbohydrate  group.  As  the  name 
indicates,  this  group  contains  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxy- 
gen, the  last  two  being  present  in  the  same  proportion  as 
in  water. 

"  Water  is  composed  of  the  two  elements,  hydrogen  and 
oxygen,  both  of  which  are  gases  in  the  free  state.  Water 
is  taken  into  the  plant  through  the  roots  and  decomposed 
in  the  leaves  in  contact  with  the  carbon  dioxid,  under  the 
influence  of  sunlight  and  the  life  principle.  The  oxygen 
from  the  water  and  part  of  that  from  the  carbon  dioxid 
is  given  off  into  the  air  through  the  breathing  pores,  while 
the  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  part  of  the  oxygen  unite  to 
form  the  carbohydrates.  These  three  elements  constitute 
about  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  our  farm  crops,  and  yet 
every  one  of  the  other  seven  plant-food  elements  is  just 


88 

as  essential  to  the  growth  and  full  development  of  the 
plant  as  are  these  three." 

"  Then  so  long  as  we  have  air  above  and  moisture  be- 
low, our  crops  will  not  lack  for  carbon,  oxygen,  and  hy- 
drogen. Is  that  the  summing  up  of  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  Percy  replied. 

"  And  those  three  elements  make  up  ninety-five  per  cent, 
of  our  farm  crops.  Is  that  correct  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir,  as  an  average." 

"  Well,  now  it  seems  to  me,  if  nature  thus  provides 
ninety-five  per  cent,  of  all  we  need,  we  ought  to  find  some 
way  of  furnishing  the  other  five  per  cent.  It  makes  me 
think  of  the  young  wife  who  told  her  husband  she  could 
live  on  bread  and  water,  with  his  love,  and  he  told  her  that 
if  she  would  furnish  the  bread  he'd  skirmish  around  and 
get  the  water.  But,  say,  did  that  South  Carolina  man 
use  any  fertilizer  for  that  immense  crop  of  corn?  " 

"  Some  fertilizer,  yes.  He  applied  manure  and  ferti- 
lizer from  February  till  June.  In  all  he  applied  1000 
bushels  (about  30  tons)  of  farm  manure,  600  bushels  of 
whole  cotton  seed,  900  pounds  of  cotton  seed  meal,  900 
pounds  of  kainit,  1100  pounds  of  guano,  200  pounds  of 
bone  meal,  200  pounds  of  acid  phosphate,  and  400  pounds 
of  sodium  nitrate." 

"  I  would  also  like  to  know  the  facts  about  this  nitrogen 
business,"  said  Mr.  Thornton.  "  I've  understood  that  one 
could  get  some  of  it  from  the  air,  and  I  would  much  rather 
get  it  that  way  than  to  buy  it  from  the  fertilizer  agent  at 
twenty  cents  a  pound.  Cowpeas  don't  seem  to  help  much, 
and  we  don't  have  the  cotton  seed,  and  we  never  have 
sufficient  manure  to  cover  much  land." 

"  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,"  said  Percy,  "  that  of  the  ten 
essential  elements  of  plant  food,  nitrogen  is  the  most 
abundant,  measured  by  crop  requirements,  and  at  the 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  89 

same  time  the  most  expensive.  The  air  above  an  acre  of 
land  contains  enough  carbon  for  a  hundred  bushels  of 
corn  per  acre  for  two  years,  and  enough  nitrogen  for  five 
hundred  thousand  years ;  and  yet  the  nitrogen  in  commer- 
cial fertilizers  costs  from  fifteen  to  twenty  cents  a  pound. 
At  commercial  prices  for  nitrogen,  every  man  who  owns 
an  acre  of  land  is  a  millionaire." 

"  You  mean  he  has  millions  in  the  air,"  amended  Mr. 
Thornton. 

"  Yes,  that  is  the  better  way  to  put  it,"  Percy  ad- 
mitted, "  but  the  fact  is  he  can  not  only  get  this  nitrogen 
for  nothing  by  means  of  legume  crops,  but  he  is  paid  for 
getting  it,  because  those  crops  are  profitable  to  raise  for 
their  own  value.  Clover,  alfalfa,  cowpeas,  and  soy  beans 
are  all  profitable  crops,  and  they  all  have  power  to  use  the 
free  nitrogen  of  the  air. 

"  There  are  a  few  important  facts  to  be  kept  in  mind 
regarding  nitrogen: 

"  A  fifty-bushel  crop  of  corn  takes  75  pounds  of  nitro- 
gen from  the  soil.  Of  this  amount  about  50  pounds  are 
in  the  grain,  24  pounds  are  in  the  stalks,  and  1  pound  in 
the  cobs.  A  fifty-bushel  crop  of  oats  takes  48  pounds  of 
nitrogen  from  the  soil,  33  pounds  in  the  grain,  and  15  in 
the  straw.  A  twenty-five  bushel  crop  of  wheat  also  takes 
>48  pounds  of  nitrogen  from  the  soil,  36  pounds  in  the 
grain  and  12  in  the  straw. 

"  These  amounts  will  vary  to  some  extent  with  the 
quality  of  the  crops,  just  as  the  weight  of  a  bushel  pf 
wheat  varies  from  perhaps  56  to  64  pounds,  although  as 
an  average  wheat  weighs  60  pounds  to  the  bushel." 

"  You  surely  remember  figures  well,"  remarked  Mr. 
Thornton  as  he  made  some  notations. 

"  It  is  easy  to  remember  what  we  think  about  much  and 
often,"  said  Percy ;  "  as  easy  to  remember  that  a  ton  of 


90  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

cowpea  hay  contains  43  pounds  of  nitrogen  as  that  Blair- 
ville  is  53  miles  from  Richmond." 

"  I  have  added  those  figures  together,"  continued  Mr. 
Thornton,  "  and  I  find  that  the  three  crops,  corn,  oats,  and 
wheat,  would- require  171  pounds  of  nitrogen.  Now  sup- 
pose we  raise  a  crop  of  cowpeas  the  fourth  year,  how 
much  nitrogen  would  be  added  to  the  soil  in  the  roots  and 
stubble?  " 

"  Not  any." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  the  roots  and  stubble  of  the 
cowpeas  would  add  no  nitrogen  to  the  soil?  Surely  that 
does  not  agree  with  the  common  talk." 

"  It  is  even  worse  than  that,"  said  Percy.  "  The  cow- 
pea  roots  and  stubble  would  contain  less  nitrogen  than 
the  cowpea  crop  takes  from  a  soil  capable  of  yielding 
fifty  bushels  of  corn  or  oats.  Only  about  one-tenth  of 
the  nitrogen  contained  in  the  cowpea  plant  is  left  in  the 
roots  and  stubble  when  the  crop  is  harvested.  Suppose 
the  yield  is  two  tons  per  acre  of  cowpea  hay !  Such  a 
crop  would  contain  about  86  pounds  of  nitrogen,  and 
less  than  10  pounds  of  nitrogen  per  acre  would  be  left  in 
the  roots  and  stubble." 

"  Well,  that  wouldn't  go  far  toward  replacing  the  171 
pounds  removed  from  the  soil  by  the  corn,  oats,  and  wheat, 
that's  sure,"  was  Mr.  Thornton's  comment. 

"  It  is  worse  than  that,"  Percy  repeated.  "  Land  that 
will  furnish  48  pounds  of  nitrogen  for  a  crop  of  oats  or 
wheat  will  furnish  more  than  10  pounds  for  a  crop  of  cow- 
peas.  At  the  end  of  such  a  four-year  rotation  such  a 
soil  would  be  about  200  pounds  poorer  in  nitrogen  per 
acre  than  at  the  beginning,  if  all  crops  were  removed  and 
nothing  returned." 

"  How  much  would  it  cost  to  put  that  nitrogen  back  in 
commercial  fertilizer?"  asked  Mr.  Thornton. 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  91 

"  That  depends,  of  course,  upon  what  kind  of  fertilizer 
is  used." 

"  Well,  most  people  around  here  who  use  fertilizer  buy 
what  the  agent  calls  two-eight-two,  and  it  costs  about  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  hundred  pounds;  but  it  can  be 
bought  by  the  ton  for  about  twenty-five  dollars." 

"  *  Two-eight-two '  means  that  the  fertilizer  is  guar- 
anteed to  contain  two  per  cent,  of  ammonia,  eight  per 
cent,  of  available  *  phosphoric  acid,'  and  two  per  cent,  of 
potash." 

"Ammonia  is  the  same  as  nitrogen,  is  it  not?  " 

"  No,  it  is  not  the  same,"  replied  Percy.  "  Ammonia 
is  a  compound  of  nitrogen  and  hydrogen.  In  order  to 
have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  relation  between  am- 
monia and  nitrogen  we  only  need  to  know  the  combining 
weights  of  the  elements.  The  smallest  particle  of  an  ele- 
ment is  called  an  atom.  Hydrogen  is  the  lightest  of  all 
the  elements  and  the  weight  of  the  hydrogen  atom  is  used 
as  the  standard  or  unit  for  the  measure  of  all  other  atomic 
weights ;  thus  the  atom  of  hydrogen  weighs  one." 

"  One  what  ?  "  interrupted  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  No  one  knows,"  replied  Percy.  "  The  atom  is  ex- 
tremely small,  much  too  small  to  be  seen  with  the  most 
powerful  microscope ;  but  you  know  all  things  are  relative 
and  we  always  measure  one  thing  in  terms  of  another. 
We  say  a  foot  is  twelve  inches  and  an  inch  is  one-twelfth 
of  a  foot,  and  there  we  stop  with  a  definition  of  each  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  the  other,  and  both  depending  upon 
an  arbitrary  standard  that  somebody  once  adopted;  and 
yet,  while  the  foot  is  known  in  most  countries,  it  is  rare 
that  two  countries  have  exactly  the  same  standard  for 
this  measure  of  length. 

"  We  do  not  know  the  exact  weight  of  the  hydrogen 
atom,  but  we  do  know  its  relative  weight.  If  the  hy- 


92  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

drogen  atom  weighs  one,  then  otljer  atomic  weights  are  as 
follows : 

12  for  carbon  (— C=) 

14  for  nitrogen  ( — N=,  or  =N==y 

16  for  oxygen  ( — O — ) 

24  for  magnesium  ( — Mg — ) 

31  for  phosphorus  ( — P— ,  or  =  P  =) 

32  for  sulfur  ( — S — ,or  =S=,  or  =  S==) 

39  for  potassium  (K — ) 

40  for  calcium   ( — Ca — ) 

56  for  iron  ( — Fe — ,  or  — Fe=) 

"  This  means  that  the  iron  atom  is  fifty-six  times  as 
heavy  as  the  hydrogen  atom.  These  atomic  weights  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  com- 
pounds formed  by  the  union  or  combination  of  two  or 
more  elements. 

"  Letters  are  used  to  stand  as  symbols  for  atoms  of 
the  elements.  Thus  H  stands  for  an  atom  of  hydrogen 
weighing  1,  O  stands  for  an  atom  of  oxygen  weighing  16, 
and  Fe  (from  the  Latin  word  ferrum,  meaning  iron) 
stands  for  one  atom  of  iron  weighing  56.  Likewise 
CO2  stands  for  a  molecule  of  the  compound  carbon  dioxid, 
weighing  44,  and  consisting  of  one  atom  of  carbon  and 
two  atoms  of  oxygen.  The  subscript  figures  always  refer 
to  the  preceding  symbol  or  parenthetic  group.  Thus  the 
molecular  formula  for  magnesium  nitrate  is  written 
Mg(NO3)2  and  may  be  read  *  Mg  (N,  O-three)  twice.' 
The  molecular  weight  of  magnesium  nitrate  is  148,  as  any 
one  can  determine  for  himself  by  adding  together  the 
weights  of  the  nine  atoms  contained  in  every  molecule  of 
that  compound ;  and  by  easy  computation  we  find  that  the 
substance  magnesium  nitrate  contains  nearly  19  per  cent, 
of  the  element  nitrogen. 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  93 

"  You  see  that  chemistry  is  an  exact  science,  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton, and  the  study  of  chemistry  is  really  very  fascinating, 
for  it  deals  with  the  ultimate  composition  of  matter. 
Chemistry  is  the  foundation  of  all  sciences  relating  to 
substance.  Chemistry  used  to  be  written  *  alchemy,'  and 
Professor  Bancroft  of  Cornell  University  has  said  that  to 
make  the  name  cover  its  entire  field  it  ought  to  be  spelled 
4  all  chemy.'  But  this  simple  knowledge  of  the  most 
common  elements  and  their  atomic  weights,  which  any  one 
can  learn  in  half  a  hour,  helps  one  very  greatly  to  under- 
stand the  foundation  principles  of  soil  fertility. 

"  One  other  thing  is  also  necessary.  That  is  to  keep 
in  mind  the  number  of  bonds,  or  hands,  possessed  by  each 
atom.  The  atom  of  hydrogen  has  only  one  bond,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  potassium.  Each  atom  of  oxygen  has  two 
bonds;  so  that  one  oxygen  atom  can  hold  two  hydrogen 
atoms  in  the  chemical  compound  called  water  (H  —  O  —  H 
or  H2O).  Other  elements  having  two-handed  atoms  are 
magnesium  and  calcium.  Strange  to  say,  the  sulfur  atom 
has  six  bonds,  or  hands,  but  sometimes  uses  only  two  or 
four,  the  others  seemingly  being  clasped  together  in  pairs. 
I  will  write  it  out  for  you,  thus  : 

Hydrogen  sulfid:  H—  S—  H  or  H2S 
Sulfur  dioxid:  O=S=O  or  SO2 


Sulfur  trioxid:  O=S  or  S03 

^O 

'  The  carbon  atom  has  four  bonds,  and  atoms  of  nitro- 
gen and  phosphorus  have  five  bonds,  but  sometimes  use  only 
three.  Thus,  in  the  compound  called  ammonia,  one  atom 
of  nitrogen  always  holds  three  atoms  of  hydrogen  ;  so,  if 
you  buy  seventeen  pounds  of  ammonia  you  would.  get  only 
fourteen  pounds  of  nitrogen  and  three  pounds  of  hy- 


N 

drogen.  This  means  that,  if  the  two-eight-two  fertilizer 
contains  two  per  cent,  of  ammonia,  it  contains  only  one 
and  two-thirds  per  cent,  of  the  actual  element  nitrogen, 
and  a  ton  of  such  fertilizer  would  contain  thirty-three 
pounds  of  nitrogen.  In  other  words  it  would  take  six 
tons  of  such  fertilizer  to  replace  the  nitrogen  removed 
from  one  acre  of  land  in  four  years  if  the  crop  yields  were 
fifty  bushels  of  corn  and  oats,  twenty-five  bushels  of  wheat, 
and  two  tons  of  cowpea  hay." 

"  Six  tons !  Why,  that  would  cost  a  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars !  Well,  well,  I  thought  I  knew  we  couldn't  afford 
to  keep  up  our  land  with  commercial  fertilizer;  but  I 
didn't  think  it  was  that  bad.  Almost  forty  dollars  an 
acre  a  year !  " 

"  It  need  not  be  quite  that  bad,"  said  Percy.  "You  see 
this  two-eight-two  fertilizer  contains  eight  per  cent,  of 
so-called  '  phosphoric  acid '  and  two  per  cent,  of  potash, 
and  those  constituents  may  be  worth  much  more  than  the 
nitrogen;  but,  so  far  as  nitrogen  is  concerned,  the  two 
hundred  pounds  would  cost  from  thirty  to  forty  dollars 
in  the  best  nitrogen  fertilizers  in  the  market,  such  as  dried 
blood  or  sodium  nitrate." 

"  Well,  even  that  would  be  eight  or  ten  dollars  a  year 
per  acre,  and  that  is  as  much  as  the  land  is  worth,  and  this 
wouldn't  include  any  other  plant-food  elements,  such  as 
'  phosphoric  acid  '  and  potash.  Would  it?  " 

"  No,  that  much  would  be  required  for  the  nitrogen 
alone  if  bought  in  commercial  form.  I  understand  that 
the  farmers  who  use  this  common  commercial  fertilizer,  ap- 
ply about  three  hundred  pounds  of  it  to  the  acre  perhaps 
twice  in  four  years.  That  would  cost  about  eight  dollars 
for  the  four  years,  and  the  total  nitrogen  applied  in  the 
two  applications  would  amount  to  10  pounds  per  acre. 

"  It  is  not  quite  correct  to  call  *  phosphoric  acid '  and 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  95 

potash  plant-food  elements.  They  are  not  elements  but 
compounds." 

"  Like  ammonia,  which  is  part  nitrogen  and  part  hy- 
drogen ?  " 

"  The  problem  is  somewhat  similar,  but  not  just  the 
same,"  Percy  replied.  "  These  compounds  contain  oxy- 
gen and  not  hydrogen." 

"  Well,  I  understand  that  both  oxygen  and  hydrogen 
are  furnished  by  natural  processes,  the  oxygen  from  car- 
bon dioxid  in  the  carbon  cycle,  and  the  hydrogen  from  the 
water  which  falls  in  rain." 

"  That  is  all  true,  but  you  really  do  not  buy  the  hydro- 
gen or  oxygen.  While  they  are  included  in  the  two-eight- 
two  guarantee,  the  price  is  adjusted  for  that.  Thus  the 
cost  of  nitrogen  would  be  just  the  same  whether  you  pur- 
chase the  fertilizer  on  the  basis  of  seventeen  cents  a  pound 
for  the  actual  element  nitrogen,  or  fourteen  cents  a  pound 
for  the  ammonia." 

"  Yes,  I  see  that  might  be,  but  I  don't  see  why  the 
guarantee  should  be  two  per  cent,  of  ammonia  instead  of 
one  and  two-thirds  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  when  the  nitro- 
gen is  all  that  gives  it  value." 

"  There  is  no  good  reason  for  it,"  said  Percy.  "  It  is 
one  of  those  customs  that  are  conceived  in  ignorance  and 
continued  in  selfishness.  It  is  very  much  simpler  to  con- 
sider the  whole  subject  on  the  basis  of  actual  plant-food 
elements,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  many  of  the  state 
laws  already  require  the  nitrogen  to  be  guaranteed  in 
.terms  of  the  actual  element,  and  a  few  states  now  require 
the  phosphorus  and  potassium  also  to  be  reported  on  the 
element  basis." 

"That  is  hopeful,  at  least,"  said  Mr.  Thornton. 
"  Now,  if  I  am  not  asking  too  many  questions  or  keeping 
you  here  too  long,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  explain  twq 


96 

more  points  that  come  to  my  mind:  First,  how  much  of 
that  two  hundred  pounds  of  nitrogen  can  I  put  back  in 
the  manure  produced  on  the  farm;  and,  second,  just  what 
is  meant  by  potash  and  phosphoric  acid?" 

Percy  made  a  few  computations  and  then  replied :  "  If 
you  sell  the  wheat ;  feed  all  the  corn,  oats,  and  cowpea  hay 
and  half  of  the  straw  and  corn  fodder,  and  use  the  other 
half  for  bedding;  and,  if  you  save  absolutely  all  of  the 
manure  produced,  including  both  the  solid  and  liquid  ex- 
crement; then  it  would  be  possible  to  recover  and  return 
to  the  land  about  173  pounds  of  nitrogen  during  the  four 
years,  compared  with  the  200  pounds  taken  from  the 
soil." 

"  I  can't  understand  that,"  said  Mr.  Thornton.  "  How 
can  that  be  when  one  of  the  crops  is  cowpeas  ?  " 

"  In  average  live-stock  and  dairy  farming,"  Percy  con- 
tinued, "  about  one-fourth  of  the  nitrogen  contained  in  the 
food  consumed  is  retained  in  the  milk  and  animal  growth, 
and  you  can  make  the  computations  for  yourself.  It 
should  be  kept  in  mind,  moreover,  that  much  of  the  manure 
produced  on  the  average  farm  is  wasted.  More  than  half 
of  the  nitrogen  is  in  the  liquid  excrement,  and  it  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  prevent  loss  of  the  liquid  manure. 
There  is  also  large  loss  of  nitrogen  from  the  fermentation 
of  manure  in  piles ;  and  when  you  smell  ammonia  in  the 
stable,  see  the  manure  pile  steaming,  or  colored  liquid 
soaking  into  the  ground  beneath,  or  flowing  away  in  rainy 
weather,  you  may  know  that  nitrogen  is  being  lost.  How 
many  tons  of  manure  can  you  apply  to  your  land  under 
such  a  system  of  farming  as  we  have  been  discussing?  " 

"  Well,  I've  figured  a  good  deal  on  manure,"  was  the 
reply,  "  and  I  think  with  four  fields  producing  such  crops 
as  you  counted  on,  that  I  could  possibly  put  ten  or  twelve 
tons  to  the  acre  on  one  field  every  year." 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  97 

"  That  would  return  from  100  to  120  pounds  of  nitro- 
gen," said  Percy,  "  instead  of  the  173  pounds  possible  to 
be  returned  if  there  is  no  loss.  There  are  three  methods 
that  may  be  used  to  reduce  the  loss  of  manure:  One  of 
these  is  to  do  the  feeding  on  the  fields.  Another  is  to 
haul  the  manure  from  the  stable  every  day  or  two  and 
spread  it  on  the  land.  The  third  is  to  allow  the  manure 
to  accumulate  in  deep  stalls  for  several  weeks,  using  plenty 
of  bedding  to  absorb  the  liquid  and  keep  the  animals 
clean,  and  then  haul  and  spread  it  when  convenient." 

"  I'm  afraid  that  last  method  would  not  do  at  all  for 
the  dairy  farmer,"  said  Mr.  Thornton.  "  You  see  we 
have  to  keep  things  very  clean  and  in  sanitary  condition." 

"  Most  often  the  cleanest  and  most  sanitary  method  the 
average  farmer  has  of  handling  the  manure  in  dairying," 
said  Percy,  "  is  to  keep  it  buried  as  much  as  possible  under 
plenty  of  clean  bedding ;  and  one  of  the  worst  methods  is 
to  overhaul  it  every  day  '  cleaning '  the  stable,  unless 
you  could  have  concrete  floors  throughout,  and  flush  them 
well  once  or  twice  a  day,  thus  losing  a  considerable  part 
of  the  valuable  excrement.  If  you  allow  the  manure  to 
accumulate  for  several  weeks  at  a  time,  it  is  best  to  have 
sufficient  room  in  the  stable  or  shed  so  that  the  cows  need 
not  be  tied.  If  allowed  to  run  loose  they  will  find  clean 
places  to  lie  down  even  during  the  night. 

"  In  case  of  horses,  the  manure  can  be  kept  buried  for 
several  weeks  if  some  means  are  used  to  prevent  the  escape 
of  ammonia.  Cattle  produce  what  is  called  a  '  cold '  ma- 
nure, while  it  is  called  '  hot '  from  horses  because  it  de- 
composes so  readily.  One  of  the  best  substances  to  use 
for  the  prevention  of  loss  of  ammonia  in  horse  stables  is 
acid  phosphate,  which  has  power  to  unite  with  ammonia 
and  hold  it  in  a  fixed  compound.  About  one  pound  of 
acid  phosphate  per  day  for  each  horse  should  be  sprinkled 


98  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

over  the  manure.  Of  course  the  phosphorus  contained 
in  the  acid  phosphate  has  considerable  value  for  its  own 
sake,  and  care  should  be  taken  that  you  do  not  lose  more 
phosphorus  from  the  acid  phosphate  applied  than 
the  value  of  all  the  ammonia  saved  by  this  means.  Por- 
ous earth  floors  may  absorb  very  considerable  amounts  of 
liquid  from  wet  manure  lying  underneath  the  dry  bedding, 
and  the  acid  phosphate  sometimes  injures  the  horses'  feet; 
so  that,  as  a  rule,  it  is  better  to  clean  the  horse  stables 
every  day  and  supply  phosphorus  in  raw  phosphate  at 
one-fourth  of  its  cost  in  acid  phosphate." 

"  Before  we  leave  the  nitrogen  question,"  said  Mr. 
Thornton,  "  I  want  to  ask  if  you  can  suggest  how  we  can 
get  enough  of  the  several  million  dollars'  worth  we  have 
in  the  air  to  supply  the  needs  of  our  crops  and  build  up 
our  land  ?  " 

"  Grow  more  legumes,  and  plow  more  under,  either  di- 
rectly or  in  manure." 

"  That  sounds  easy,  but  can  you  suggest  some  practical 
system?  " 

"  I  think  so.  I  know  too  little  of  your  conditions  to 
think  I  could  suggest  the  best  system  for  you  to  adopt  but 
I  can  surely  suggest  one  that  will  supply  nitrogen  for  such 
crop  yields  as  we  have  considered:  Suppose  we  change 
the  order  of  the  crops  and  grow  wheat,  corn,  oats,  and 
cowpeas,  and  grow  clover  with  the  wheat  and  oats,  plow- 
ing the  clover  under  in  the  spring  as  green  manure  for 
corn  and  cowpeas.  If  necessary  to  prevent  the  clover  or 
weeds  from  producing  seed,  the  field  may  be  clipped  with 
the  mower  in  the  late  summer  when  the  clover  has  made 
some  growth  after  the  wheat  and  oats  have  been  removed. 
Leave  this  season's  growth  lying  on  the  land.  As  an  aver- 
age it  should  amount  to  more  than  half  a  ton  of  hay  per 
acre.  The  next  spring  the  clover  is  allowed  to  grow  for 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  99 

several  weeks.  It  should  be  plowed  under  for  corn  on  one 
field  early  in  May  and  two  or  three  weeks  later  the  other 
field  is  plowed  for  cowpeas.  The  spring  growth  should 
average  nearly  a  ton  of  clover  hay  per  acre.  In  this  way 
clover  equivalent  to  about  three  tons  of  hay  could  be  plowed 
under.  Clover  hay  contains  40  pounds  of  nitrogen  per 
ton;  so  this  would  supply  about  120  pounds  of  nitrogen 
in  addition  to  the  173  pounds  possible  to  be  supplied  in 
the  manure.  This  would  make  possible  a  total  return  of 
293  pounds,  while  we  figured  some  200  pounds  removed. 
Of  course  if  you  save  only  100  pounds  in  the  manure  the 
amount  returned  would  be  reduced  to  220  pounds." 

"  There  are  two  questionable  points  in  this  plan,"  said 
M*r.  Thornton ;  "  one  is  the  impossibility,  or  at  least  the 
difficulty,  of  growing  clover  on  this  land.  The  other 
point  is,  How  much  of  that  120  pounds  of  nitrogen  re- 
turned in  the  clover  is  taken  from  the  soil  itself.  I  re- 
member you  figured  86  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  two  tons  of 
cowpea  hay,  but  you  also  assumed  that  about  29  pounds 
of  it  would  be  taken  from  the  soil." 

"  Yes,  that  is  true,"  Percy  replied,  "  at  least  29  pounds 
and  probably  more.  You  see  the  cowpeas  grow  during 
the  same  months  as  corn  and  on  land  prepared  in  about  the 
same  manner.  If  the  soil  will  furnish  75  pounds  of  nitro- 
gen to  the  corn  crop,  and  48  pounds  to  the  oats  and  wheat, 
it  would  surely  furnish  29  pounds  to  the  cowpeas.  Of 
course  this  particular  amount  has  no  special  significance, 
but  the  other  definite  amounts  removed  in  corn,  oats,  and 
wheat  aggregate  171,  and  29  pounds  were  added  to  make 
the  round  200  pounds.  Perhaps  210  pounds  would  be 
nearer  the  truth,  in  which  case  the  soil  would  furnish  about 
half  as  much  nitrogen  to  the  cowpea  crop  as  to  the  corn 
crop.  This  is  reasonable  considering  that  corn  is  the 
first  crop  grown  after  the  manure  is  applied.  You  will 


100  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

remember  that  only  one-tenth  of  the  total  nitrogen  of  the 
cowpea  plant  remains  in  the  roots  and  stubble  ?  " 

"  Yes,  that's  what  we  figured  on." 

"  The  cowpea  is  an  annual  plant.  It  is  planted,  pro- 
duces its  seed,  and  dies  the  same  season.  It  has  no  need 
to  store  up  material  in  the  roots  for  future  use.  Con- 
sequently the  substance  of  the  root  is  largely  taken  into 
the  tops  as  the  plant  approaches  maturity.  It  is  differ- 
ent with  the  clover  plant.  This  is  a  biennial  with  some 
tendency  toward  the  perennial  plant.  It  lives  long  and 
develops  an  extensive  root  system,  and  it  stores  up  ma- 
terial in  the  roots  during  part  of  its  life  for  use  at  a  later 
period.  About  one-third  of  the  total  nitrogen  content 
of  the  clover  plant  is  contained  in  the  roots  and  stubble. 
This  means  that  the  roots  and  stubble  of  a  two-ton  crop 
of  clover  would  contain  about  forty  pounds  of  nitrogen, 
or  more  than  we  assumed  was  taken  from  the  soil  by  the 
cowpeas.  But  there  is  still  another  point  in  favor  of  the 
clover.  The  cowpeas  make  their  growth  during  the  sum- 
mer months  when  nitrification  is  most  active,  whereas  the 
clover  growth  we  have  counted  on  occurs  chiefly  during  the 
fall  and  spring  when  nitrification  is  much  less  active ;  con- 
sequently the  clover  probably  takes  even  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  its  nitrogen  from  the  air  than  we  have  counted 
on." 

"  That  is  rather  confusing,"  said  Mr.  Thornton ;  "  you 
say  the  cowpea  grows  when  nitrification  is  most  active, 
and  yet  you  say  that  it  takes  less  nitrogen  from  the  air 
than  clover.  Isn't  that  somewhat  contradictory  ?  " 

"  I  think  not,"  said  Percy.  "  Let  me  see. —  Just  what 
do  you  understand  by  nitrification?" 

"  Getting  nitrogen  from  the  air,  is  it  not?  " 

**  No,  no.  That  explains  it.  Getting  nitrogen  from  the 
air  is  called  nitrogen  fixation.  This  action  is  carried  on  by 


A  LESSON  IN  FARM  SCIENCE  101 

the  nitrogen-fixing  bacteria,  such  as  the  clover  bacteria, 
the  soy  bean  bacteria,  the  alfalfa  bacteria,  which,  by  the 
way,  are  evidently  the  same  as  the  bacteria  of  sweet  clover, 
or  mellilotus.  Then  we  also  have  the  cowpea  bacteria, 
and  these  seem  to  be  the  same  as  the  bacteria  of  the  wild 
partridge  pea,  a  kind  of  sensitive  plant  with  yellow  flow- 
ers, and  a  tiny  goblet  standing  upright  at  the  base  of 
each  compound  leaf, —  the  plant  called  Cassia  Chamae- 
crista  by  the  botanist. 

"  Nitrification  is  an  altogether  — " 

"  Well,  I  declare !  Excuse  me,  Sir,  but  that's  Charlie 
calling  the  cows.  Scotts,  I  don't  see  where  the  time  has 
gone!  You'll  excuse  me,  Sir,  but  I  must  look  after  sep- 
arating the  cream.  You  will  greatly  oblige  me,  Mr. 
Johnston,  if  you  will  have  dinner  with  us  and  share  our 
home  to-night.  In  addition  to  the  pleasure  of  your  com- 
pany, I  confess  that  I  am  mightily  interested  in  this  sub- 
ject; and  I  would  like  especially  to  get  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  that  nitrification  process,  and  we've  not  had  time 
to  discuss  the  potash  and  *  phosphoric  acid,'  which  I  know 
cost  some  of  our  farmers  a  good  part  of  all  they  get  for 
their  crops,  and  still  their  lands  are  as  poor  as  ever." 

"  I  appreciate  very  much  your  kind  invitation,  Mr. 
Thornton.  I  came  to  you  for  correct  information  regard- 
ing the  agricultural  conditions  here,  and  you  were  very 
kind  and  indulgent  to  answer  my  blunt  questions,  even 
concerning  your  own  farm  practice  and  experience.  I 
feel,  Sir,  that  I  am  already  greatly  indebted  to  you,  but 
it  will  certainly  be  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  remain  with 
you  to-night." 

For  more  than  two  hours  they  had  been  standing,  lean- 
ing, or  sitting  in  a  field  beside  a  shock  of  cowpea  hay, 
Percy  toying  with  his  soil  auger,  and  Mr.  Thornton  mak- 
ing records  now  and  then  in  his  pocket  note-book. 


COEDUCATION 

PERCY  took  a  lesson  in  turning  the  cream  separator, 
and  after  dinner  Mrs.  Thornton  assured  him  that 
she  and  her  sister  were  greatly  disappointed  that 
they  had  not  been  permitted  to  hear  the  discussion  con- 
cerning the  use  of  science  on  the  farm. 

"  We  have  never  forsaken  our  belief  that  these  old  farms 
can  again  be  made  to  yield  bountiful  crops,"  she  said, 
"  as  ours  did  for  so  many  years  under  the  management  of 
our  ancestors.  *  Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human 
breast.'  I  stop  with  that  for  I  do  not  like  the  rest  of  the 
couplet.  We  can  see  that  some  marked  progress  has  been 
made  under  my  husband's  management,  although  he  feels 
that  it  is  very  slow  work  building  up  a  run-down  farm. 
But  he  has  raised  some  fine  crops  on  the  fields  under  culti- 
vation,—  as  much  as  ten  barrels  of  corn  to  the  acre,  have 
you  not,  Dear?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  fully  that  much,  but  even  ten  barrels  per  acre  on 
one  small  field  is  nothing  compared  to  the  great  fields  of 
corn  Mr.  Johnston  raises  in  the  West,  and  it  makes  a 
mighty  small  show  here  on  a  nine-hundred-acre  farm,  most 
of  which  hasn't  been  cropped  for  more  than  twenty  years ; 
and  even  then  it  was  given  up  because  the  negro  tenants 
couldn't  raise  corn  enough  to  live  on. 

"  I've  talked  with  the  fertilizer  agents,  but  they  don't 
know  much  about  fertilizers,  except  what  they  read  in  the 
testimonials  published  in  the  advertising  booklets.  I  have 

102 


COEDUCATION  103 

had  some  good  help  from  the  agricultural  papers,  but  what 
I  have  already  learned  from  them  has  made  me  so  hungry 
for  more  complete  information  that  I've  just  spent 
this  whole  evening  asking  Mr.  Johnston  questions;  and  I 
haven't  given  him  a  chance  to  answer  them  all  yet." 

"I  am  sure  you  have  not  asked  more  questions  this 
afternoon  than  I  did  this  forenoon,"  Percy  remarked; 
"  and  all  your  answers  were  based  on  authentic  history  or 
actual  experience,  while  my  answers  were  only  what  I  have 
learned  from  others." 

"  Well,  if  we  were  more  ready  to  learn  from  others,  it 
would  be  better  for  all  of  us,"  said  Mr.  Thornton.  "  Ex- 
perience is  a  mighty  dear  teacher  and,  even  if  we  finally 
learn  the  lesson,  it  may  be  too  everlasting  late  for  us  to 
apply  it.  Now  we  all  want  to  learn  about  that  process 
called  nitrification." 

"  It  is  an  extremely  interesting  and  important  process," 
said  Percy.  "  It  includes  the  stages  or  steps  by  which  the 
insoluble  organic  nitrogen  of  the  soil  is  converted  into 
soluble  nitrate  nitrogen,  in  which  form  it  becomes  available 
as  food  for  all  of  our  agricultural  plants." 

"  Excepting  the  legumes  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  Excepting  none,"  Percy  replied.  "  The  legume 
plants,  like  clover,  take  nitrogen  from  the  soil  so  far  as 
they  can  secure  it  in  available  form,  and  in  this  respect 
clover  is  not  different  from  corn.  The  respect  in  which 
it  is  different  is  the  power  of  clover  to  secure  additional 
supplies  of  nitrogen  from  the  air  when  the  soil's  available 
supply  becomes  inadequate  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  grow- 
ing clover.  If  the  conditions  are  suitable  for  nitrogen- 
fixation,  then  the  growth  of  the  legume  plants  need  not  be 
limited  by  lack  of  nitrogen ;  whereas,  nitrogen  is  probably 
the  element  that  first  limits  the  growth  and  yield  of  all 
other  crops  on  your  common  soils." 


104  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Now,  what  do  you  think  of  that,  Girls  ?  With  mil- 
lions of  dollars'  worth  of  nitrogen  in  the  air  over  every 
acre,  our  crops  are  poor  just  because  we  don't  use  it.  I 
wish  you  would  tell  me  something  about  the  suitable  con- 
ditions for  nitrogen-fixation,  Mr.  Johnston.  You  under- 
stand, Girls,  that  nitrogen-fixation  is  simply  getting  nitro- 
gen from  the  inexhaustible  supply  in  the  air  by  meajns  of 
little  microscopic  organisms  called  bacteria,  which  live  in 
little  balls  called  tubercles  attached  to  the  roots  of  certain 
plants  called  legumes,  like  cowpeas  and  clover.  Corn  and 
wheat  and  such  crops  can't  get  this  nitrogen.  Now,  Mr. 
Johnston  is  telling  about  nitrification,  a  process  which  is 
entirely  different  from  nitrogen-fixation.  Excuse  me,  Mr. 
Johnston,  but  I  wanted  to  make  this  plain  to  Mrs.  Thorn- 
ton and  Miss  Russell." 

"  I  am  glad  you  did  so,"  Percy  replied.  "  As  I  was  say- 
ing, nitrification  has  no  connection  whatever  with  the  free 
nitrogen  of  the  air. 

"  All  plants  take  their  food  in  solution ;  that  is,  the 
plant  food  taken  from  the  soil  must  be  dissolved  in  the  soil 
water  or  moisture.  Of  the  essential  elements  of  plant 
food,  seven  are  taken  from  the  soil  through  the  roots  into 
the  plant.  These  seven  do  not  include  those  of  which 
water  itself  is  composed.  Now,  these  seven  plant-food 
elements  exist  in  the  soil  almost  exclusively  in  an  insoluble 
form.  In  that  condition  they  are  not  available  to  the 
plant  for  plant  food ;  and  it  is  the  business  of  the  farmer 
to  make  this  plant  food  available  as  fast  as  it  is  needed  by 
his  growing  crops. 

"  The  nitrogen  of  the  soil  exists  in  the  organic  matter ; 
that  is,  in  such  materials  as  plant  roots,  weeds,  and  stubble, 
that  may  have  been  plowed  under,  or  any  kind  of  vegetable 
matter  incorporated  with  the  soil,  including  all  sorts  of 
crop  residues,  green  manures,  and  the  common  farm  ferti- 


COEDUCATION  105 

lizers  from  the  stables.  When  these  organic  materials  are 
decomposed  and  disintegrated  to  such  an  extent  that  their 
structure  is  completely  destroyed,  the  resulting  mass  of 
partially  decayed  black  organic  matter  is  called  humus. 
The  nitrogen  of  the  soil  is  one  of  the  constituents  of  this 
humus  or  other  organic  matter.  It  is  not  contained  in  the 
mineral  particles  of  the  soil.  On  the  other  hand,  the  other 
six  elements  of  plant  food  are  contained  largely  in  the 
mineral  part  of  the  soil,  as  the  clay,  silt,  and  sand.  Thus 
the  iron,  calcium,  magnesium,  and  potassium,  all  of  which 
are  called  abundant  elements,  are  contained  in  the  mineral 
matter,  and  usually  in  considerable  amounts,  while  they  are 
found  in  the  organic  matter  in  very  small  proportion. 
The  phosphorus  and  sulfur  are  found  in  very  limited 
quantities  in  most  soils,  but  they  are  present  in  both  or- 
ganic and  mineral  form. 

"  Practically  the  entire  stock  or  store  of  all  of  the  ele- 
ments in  the  soil  is  insoluble  and  consequently  unavailable 
for  the  use  of  growing  plants ;  and,  as  I  said,  some  of  the 
chief  plans  and  efforts  of  the  farmer  should  be  directed  to 
the  business  of  making  plant  food  available. 

"  The  nitrogen  contained  in  the  insoluble  organic  matter 
of  the  soil  is  made  soluble  and  available  by  the  process 
called  nitrification.  Three  different  kinds  of  bacteria  are 
required  to  bring  about  the  complete  change." 

"  Are  these  bacteria  different  from  the  nitrogen-fixing 
bacteria?"  asked  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  Entirely  different,"  Percy  replied,  "  and  there  are 
three  distinct  kinds,  one  for  each  of  the  three  steps  in  the 
process. 

"  The  first  may  be  called  ammonia  bacteria.  They  have, 
power  to  convert  organic  nitrogen  into  ammonia  nitrogen ; 
that  is,  into  the  compound  of  nitrogen  and  hydrogen ;  and 
this  step  in  the  process  is  called  ammonification. 


106  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  The  other  two  kinds  are  the  true  nitrifying  bacteria. 
One  of  them  converts  the  ammonia  into  nitrites,  and  the 
other  changes  the  nitrites  into  nitrates.  These  two  kinds 
are  known  as  the  nitrite  bacteria  and  the  nitrate  bacteria. 

"  Technically  the  last  two  steps  in  the  process  are  nitri- 
fication proper;  but,  speaking  generally,  the  term  nitri- 
fication is  used  to  include  the  three  steps,  or  both  ammoni- 
fication  and  nitrification  proper. 

"  Now,  the  nitrifying  bacteria  require  certain  condi- 
tions, otherwise  they  will  not  perform  their  functions. 
Among  these  essential  conditions  are  the  presence  of  mois- 
ure  and  free  oxygen,  a  supply  of  carbonates,  certain  food 
materials  for  the  bacteria  themselves,  and  a  temperature 
within  certain  limits. 

"  You  may  remember,  Mr.  Thornton,  that  more  soil 
nitrogen  is  made  available  for  cowpeas  during  the  summer 
weather  than  for  clover  during  the  cooler  fall  and 
spring?  " 

"  Yes,  I  remember  that  distinction." 

"  I  declare,"  said  Miss  Russell,  "  Tom  talks  as  though 
he  had  been  there  and  seen  the  things  going  on.  I  haven't 
seen  you  using  any  microscope." 

"  Well,  I  tell  you,  I've  mighty  near  seen  Jem,"  was  the 
reply.  "  Mr.  Johnston  makes  everything  so  plain  that  I 
can  mighty  near  see  what  he  saw  when  he  looked  through 
the  microscope." 

"I  greatly  enjoyed  my  microscopic  work,"  said  Percy, 
"  and  still  more  the  work  in  the  chemical  laboratory  where 
we  finally  learned  to  analyze  soils,  to  take  them  apart  and 
see  what  they  contain, —  how  much  nitrogen,  how  much 
phosphorus,  how  much  limestone,  or  how  much  soil  acidity, 
which  means  that  limestone  is  needed.  Then  I  also 
enjoyed  the  work  in  the  pot-culture  laboratory,  where  we 
learned  not  to  analyze  but  to  synthesize;  that  is,  to  put 


Millet  in  pot  cultures.     (N  means  nitrogen,  P  means  phos- 
phorus, K  means  potassium.) 


COEDUCATION  107 

different  materials  together  to  make  a  soil.  Thus,  we 
would  make  one  soil  and  put  in  all  of  the  essential  plant- 
food  elements  except  nitrogen,  and  another  with  only  phos- 
phorus lacking,  and  still  another  with  both  nitrogen  and 
phosphorus  present,  and  all  of  the  other  essential  ele- 
ments provided,  except  potassium,  or  magnesium,  or  iron. 
These  prepared  soils  were  put  in  glass  jars  having  a  hole 
in  the  bottom  for  drainage,  and  then  the  same  kind  of  seeds 
were  planted  in  each  jar  or  pot.  Some  students  planted 
corn,  others  oats  or  wheat  or  any  kind  of  farm  seeds.  I 
grew  rape  in  one  series  of  pots,  and  millet  in  another,  and 
I  have  photographs  with  me  which  show  very  well  that  all 
of  the  plant-food  elements  are  essential. 

"  You  see  one  pot  contained  no  plant  food  and  one  was 
prepared  with  all  of  the  ten  essential  elements  provided. 
Then  the  other  pots  contained  all  but  one  of  the  necessary 
soil  elements,  as  indicated  in  the  photographs." 

"  Why,  I  never  saw  anything  like  that,"  said  Mrs. 
Thornton. 

"  But  I  have  many  a  time,"  said  her  husband,  "  right 
here  on  this  old  farm;  I  don't  know  what's  lacking,  of 
course,  but  some  years  I've  thought  most  everything  was 
lacking.  But,  according  to  this  pot-culture  test,  you  can't 
raise  any  crops  if  just  one  of  these  ten  elements  is  lacking, 
no  matter  how  much  you  have  of  the  other  nine;  and  it 
seems  to  make  no  difference  which  one  is  lacking,  you  don't 
get  any  crop.  Is  that  the  fact,  Mr.  Johnston?" 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  Percy  replied.  "  Where  all  of  the  elements 
are  provided,  a  fine  crop  is  produced,  but  in  each  case 
where  a  single  element  is  omitted  that  is  the  only  difference, 
and  in  some  cases  the  result  is  worse  than  where  no  plant 
food  is  supplied.  It  seems  to  hurt  the  plant  worse  to 
throw  its  food  supply  completely  out  of  balance  than  to 
leave  it  with  nothing  except  what  it  draws  from  the 


108  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

meager  store  in  the  seed  planted.  Of  course  all  the  pots 
were  planted  with  the  same  kind  of  seed  at  the  same  time, 
and  they  were  all  watered  uniformly  every  day." 

"  Those  results  are  very  striking,  indeed,"  said  Miss 
Russell,  "  but  I  suppose  one  would  never  see  such  marked 
differences  under  farm  conditions  ?  " 

"  Only  under  unusual  or  abnormal  conditions,"  Percy 
replied,  "  but  the  fact  is  that,  as  a  very  general  rule,  our 
crop  yields  are  limited  chiefly  because  the  supply  of  avail- 
able plant  food  is  limited.  Sometimes  the  clover  crop  is  a 
complete  failure  on  untreated  land,  while  it  lives  and  pro- 
duces a  good  crop  if  the  soil  is  properly  treated;  and  in 
such  cases  the  difference  developed  in  the  field  is  just  as 
marked  as  in  the  pot-cultures.  In  general  we  may  set  it 
down  as  an  absolute  fact  that  the  productive  power  of 
normal  land  in  humid  regions  depends  primarily  upon  the 
ability  of  the  soil  to  feed  the  crop. 

"  I  have  here  a  photograph  of  a  corn  field  on  very  ab- 
normal soil.  They  had  the  negative  at  the  Experiment 
Station  and  I  secured  a  print  from  it,  in  part  because  I 
became  interested  in  a  story  connected  with  this  experi- 
ment field,  which  our  professor  of  soil  fertility  reported  to 
us. 

"  This  shows  a  field  of  corn  growing  on  peaty  swamp 
land,  of  which  there  are  several  hundred  thousand  acres 
in  the  swamp  regions  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Wisconsin. 
This  peaty  soil  is  extremely  rich  in  humus  and  nitrogen, 
and  well  supplied  with  phosphorus  and  other  elements,  ex- 
cept potassium ;  but  in  this  element  it  is  extremely  deficient. 
This  land  was  drained  out  at  large  expense,  and  produced 
two  or  three  large  crops  because  the  fresh  grass  roots  con- 
tained some  readily  available  potassium;  but  after  three 
or  four  years  the  corn  crop  became  a  complete  failure,  as 
you  see  from  the  untreated  check  plot  on  the  right ;  while 


COEDUCATION  109 

the  land  on  the  left,  where  potassium  was  applied,  pro- 
duced forty-five  bushels  per  acre  the  year  this  photograph 
was  taken,  and  with  heavier  treatment  from  sixty  to 
seventy-five  bushels  are  produced." 

"  Seventy-five  bushels  would  be  fifteen  barrels  of  corn 
per  acre.  How's  that,  Little  Wife  ?  "  asked  Tom. 

"  It's  even  more  wonderful  than  the  pot  cultures,"  re- 
plied Mrs.  Thornton ;  "  but  how  much  did  the  potassium 
cost,  Mr.  Johnston?" 

"  About  three  dollars  an  acre,"  replied  Percy ;  "  but  of 
course  the  land  has  almost  no  value  if  not  treated;  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  three  dollars  is  less  than  half  the 
interest  on  the  difference  in  value  between  this  land  and 
our  ordinary  corn-belt  land.  These  peaty  swamp  lands 
are  to  a  large  extent  in  scattered  areas,  and  commonly,  if 
a  farmer  owns  some  of  this  kind  of  land,  he  also  owns 
some  other  good  land,  perhaps  adjoining  the  swamp;  but 
this  is  not  always  the  case,  and  was  not  with  the  man  in 
the  story  I  mentioned.  This  man  lived  a  few  miles  away 
and  his  farm  was  practically  all  of  this  peaty  swamp-land 
type.  He  heard  of  this  experiment  field  and  came  with 
his  family  to  see  it. 

"  As  he  stood  looking,  first  at  the  corn  on  the  treated 
and  untreated  land,  and  then  at  his  wife  and  large  family 
of  children,  he  broke  down  and  cried  like  a  child.  Later  he 
explained  to  the  superintendent  who  was  showing  him  the 
experiments,  that  he  had  put  the  best  of  his  life  into  that 
kind  of  land.  '  The  land  looked  rich,'  said  he, — '  as  rich 
as  any  land  I  ever  saw.  I  bought  it  and  drained  it  and 
built  my  home  on  a  sandy  knoll.  The  first  crops  were 
fairly  good,  and  we  hoped  for  better  crops;  but  instead 
they  grew  worse  and  worse.  We  raised  what  we  could  on 
a  small  patch  of  sandy  land,  and  kept  trying  to  find  out 
what  we  could  grow  on  this  black  bogus  land.  Sometimes 


110  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

I  helped  the  neighbors  and  got  a  little  money,  but  my  wife 
and  I  and  my  older  children  have  wasted  twenty  years  on 
this  land.  Poverty,  poverty,  always !  How  was  I  to  know 
that  this  single  substance  which  you  call  potassium  was 
all  we  needed  to  make  this  land  productive  and  valuable? 
Oh,  if  I  had  only  known  this  twenty  years  ago,  before  my 
wife  had  worked  like  a  slave, —  before  my  children  had 
grown  almost  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  in  poverty  and 
ignorance ! ' " 

"Why  wasn't  the  matter  investigated  sooner?"  asked 
Miss  Russell.  "  Why  didn't  the  government  find  out  what 
the  land  needed  long  before?  " 

"  I  am  a  Yankee,"  said  Percy.  "  Why  have  American 
statesmen  ridden  back  and  forth  to  the  national  capital 
through  a  wilderness  of  depleted  and  abandoned  farms  in 
the  Eastern  States  for  half  a  century  or  more  before  the 
first  appropriation  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  agricul- 
tural investigation?  and  why,  even  now,  does  not  this  rich 
federal  government  appropriate  to  the  agricultural  ex- 
periment station  in  every  state  a  fund  at  least  equal  to  the 
aggregate  salaries  of  the  congressmen  from  the  same  state, 
this  fund  to  be  used  exclusively  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
covering and  demonstrating  profitable  systems  of  per- 
manent agriculture  on  every  type  of  soil?  Why  do  we  as 
a  nation  expend  three  hundred  million  dollars  annually  for 
the  development  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  only  fifteen 
millions  for  agriculture,  the  one  industry  whose  ultimate 
prosperity  must  measure  the  destiny  of  the  nation? 

"  Moralists  sometimes  tell  us  that  the  fall  of  the  Baby- 
lonian Empire,  the  fall  of  the  Egyptian  Empire,  of  the 
Grecian  Empire,  and  the  Roman  Empire,  were  all  due  to 
the  development  of  pride  and  immorality  among  those 
peoples ;  whereas,  we  believe  that  civilization  tends  rather 
toward  peace,  security,  and  higher  citizenship.  Is  not  the 
chief  explanation  for  the  ultimate  and  successive  fall  of 


Corn  on  peaty  swamp  land,  yielding  forty-five  bushels  per 
acre  where  potassium  was  applied,  but  com- 
plete failure  on  the  untreated  plot. 


COEDUCATION  111 

those  great  empires  to  be  found  in  the  exhausted  or  wasted 
agricultural  resources  of  the  country? 

"  The  land  that  once  flowed  with  milk  and  honey  might 
then  support  a  mighty  empire,  with  independent  resources 
sufficient  for  times  of  great  emergencies,  but  now  that  land 
seems  almost  barren  and  supports  a  few  wandering  bands 
of  marauding  Arabs  and  villages  of  beggars. 

"  The  power  and  world  influence  of  a  nation  must  pass 
away  with  the  passing  of  material  resources ;  for  poverty 
is  helpless,  and  ignorance  is  the  inevitable  result  of  con- 
tinued poverty.  Only  the  prosperous  nation  can  afford 
the  general  education  or  trained  intelligence  of  its  people. 

"  Old  land  is  poorer  than  new  land.  There  are  excep- 
tions but  this  is  the  rule.  The  fact  is  known  and  recog- 
nized by  all  America. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?  It  means  that  the  practice  of 
the  past  and  present  art  of  agriculture  leads  toward  land 
ruin, —  not  only  in  China,  where  famine  and  starvation  are 
common,  notwithstanding  that  thousands  and  thousands 
of  Chinese  are  employed  constantly  in  saving  every  par- 
ticle of  fertilizing  material,  even  gathering  the  human  ex- 
crements from  every  house  and  by-place  in  village  and 
country,  as  carefully  as  our  farmers  gather  honey  from 
their  hives ;  not  only  in  India,  where  starvation's  ghost  is 
always  present,  where,  as  a  rule,  there  are  more  hungry 
people  than  the  total  population  of  the  United  States ;  not 
only  in  Russia,  where  famine  is  frequent ;  but,  likewise,  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  the  present  practice  of  the 
art  of  agriculture  tends  toward  land  ruin. 

"  Nations  rise  and  fall ;  so  does  the  productive  power 
of  vast  areas  of  land.  Better  drainage,  better  seed,  bet- 
ter implements,  and  more  thorough  tillage,  all  tend  toward 
larger  crops,  but  they  also  tend  toward  ultimate  land  ruin, 
for  the  removal  of  larger  crops  only  hastens  soil  depletion. 

"  To  bring  about  the  adoption  of  systems  of  farming 


112  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

that  will  restore  our  depleted  Eastern  and  Southern  soils, 
and  that  will  maintain  or  increase  the  productive  power  of 
our  remaining  fertile  lands  of  the  great  Central  West, 
where  we  are  now  producing  half  of  the  total  corn  crop  of 
the  entire  world,  is  not  only  the  most  important  material 
problem  of  the  United  States;  but  to  bring  this  about  is 
worthy  of,  and  will  require,  the  best  thought  of  the  most 
influential  men  of  America.  Without  a  prosperous  agri- 
culture here  there  can  be  no  permanent  prosperity  for  our 
American  institutions.  While  some  small  countries  can 
support  themselves  by  conducting  trade,  commerce,  and 
manufacture,  for  other  countries,  American  agriculture 
must  not  only  be  self-supporting,  but,  in  large  degree, 
agriculture  must  support  our  other  great  industries. 

"  Without  agriculture,  the  coal  and  iron  would  remain  in 
the  earth,  the  forest  would  be  left  uncut,  the  railroads 
would  be  abandoned,  the  cities  depopulated,  and  the 
wooded  lands  and  water-ways  would  again  be  used  only 
for  hunting  and  fishing.  Shall  we  not  remember,  for  ex- 
ample, that  the  coal  mine  yields  a  single  harvest  —  one 
crop  —  and  is  then  forever  abandoned ;  while  the  soil  must 
yield  a  hundred  —  yes,  a  thousand  crops,  and  even  then 
it  must  be  richer  and  more  productive  than  at  the  begin- 
ning, if  those  who  come  after  us  are  to  continue  to  multi- 
ply and  replenish  the  earth. 

"  Even  the  best  possible  system  of  soil  improvement,  we 
must  admit,  is  not  the  absolute  and  final  solution  of  this, 
the  most  stupendous  problem  of  the  United  States.  If 
war  gives  way  to  peace  and  pestilence  to  science,  then  the 
time  will  come  when  the  soils  of  America  shall  reach  the 
limit  of  the  highest  productive  power  possible  to  be  per- 
manently maintained,  even  by  the  adoption  of  the  most 
practical  scientific  methods;  and  before  that  limit  is 
reached,  if  power,  progress,  and  plenty  are  to  continue 
in  our  beloved  country,  there  must  be  developed  and  en- 


COEDUCATION  113 

forced  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest;  otherwise 
there  is  no  ultimate  future  for  America  different  from  that 
of  China,  India,  and  Russia,  the  only  great  agricultural 
countries  comparable  to  the  United  States.  An  enlight- 
ened humanity  must  grant  to  all  the  right  to  live,  but  the 
reproduction  and  perpetuation  of  the  unfit  can  never  be 
an  absolute  and  inalienable  right. 

"  Under  the  present  laws  and  customs,  a  man  may  spend 
half  his  life  in  the  insane  asylum  or  in  the  penitentiary, 
and  still  be  the  father  of  a  dozen  children  with  degenerate 
tendencies.  There  should  be  no  reproduction  from  con- 
victed criminals,  insane  persons,  and  other  degenerates. 
Thieves,  grafters,  bribers  and  bribe-takers  all  belong  in 
the  same  class,  and  it  should  not  be  left  possible  for  them 
to  reproduce  their  kind.  They  are  a  burden  upon  the 
public  which  the  public  must  bear,  but  the  public  is  under 
no  obligation  to  permit  their  multiplication.  The  chil- 
dren of  such  should  never  become  the  parents  of  others. 
It  is  a  crime  against  both  the  child  and  the  public. 

"No  doubt  you  will  consider  this  extremely  visionary, 
and  so  it  is ;  but,  unless  America  can  see  a  vision  somewhat 
like  this,  a  population  that  is  doubling  three  or  four  times 
each  century,  and  an  area  of  depleted  soils  that  is  also 
increasing  at  a  rapid  rate,  will  combine  to  bring  our  Ship 
of  State  into  a  current  against  which  we  may  battle  in 
vain;  for  there  is  not  another  New  World  to  bring  new 
wealth,  new  prosperity,  and  new  life  and  light  after  an- 
other period  of  *  Dark  Ages.' 

"  Whether  we  shall  ever  apply  any  such  intelligence  to 
the  possible  improvement  of  our  own  race  as  we  have  in 
the  great  improvement  of  our  cattle  and  corn  is,  of  course, 
an  open  question ;  but  to  some  extent  you  will  agree  that 
the  grafter  and  the  insane,  like  the  poet,  are  born  and  not 
made. 

"  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  insanity,  criminality,  and 


feeble-mindedness  may  be  transmitted  from  parents  to  off- 
spring. This  fact  is  a  matter  of  common  observation  and 
is  especially  well  known  to  physicians.  It  is  also  illus- 
trated in  the  established  history  of  certain  families  through 
several  generations. 

"  Thus  Dugdale  has  carefully  traced  through  five  gen- 
erations the  descendants  of  a  certain  degenerate  family. 
Of  709  members  of  this  family,  76  were  convicted  of  crime, 
180  were  paupers  and  beggars,  and  many  of  the  females 
were  shameful  degenerates. 

"  Seven  hundred  descendants  of  a  family  of  drunkards 
were  traced  by  Poellman.  Of  these,  83  were  convicted  of 
crime,  226  were  paupers  and  beggars,  and  187  were  dis- 
graceful women. 

"  In  America  the  percentage  of  increase  of  degenerates 
exceeds  the  percentage  of  increase  of  the  normal  and  law- 
abiding,  because  the  degenerates  lack  self-control  and  are 
excessively  prolific.  To  discuss  this  subject  at  all  is  bad 
enough;  but  the  fact  is  that  in  most  of  our  common- 
wealths about  one-half  of  the  total  revenue  of  the  State 
is  now  required  for  the  support  of  the  degenerate  classes. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  in  comparison  with  the  transmis- 
sion of  degenerate  tendencies,  investigation  has  shown  that 
of  1394  descendants  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  whose  lives 
were  traced  between  1750  and  1900,  not  one  was  convicted 
of  crime,  pauperism  or  shameful  disgrace;  while  several 
hundred  were  prominent  in  educational,  professional,  and 
military  life  and  public  service. 

"  Of  course  there  are,  and  always  will  be,  marked 
variations,  mutants,  or  'sports,'  but  nevertheless,  natural 
inheritance  is  the  master  key  to  the  improvement  of  every 
form  of  life;  and  it  is  an  encouraging  fact  that  some  of 
the  states,  as  Connecticut,  Indiana,  and  California,  for  ex- 
ample, have  already  adopted  laws  looking  toward  the  re- 
duction of  the  reproduction  of  convicted  degenerates." 


CHAPTER   XVI 
PAST  SELF-REDEMPTION 

BUT  I  have  rambled  far  from  the  subject  as- 
signed me,"  Percy  continued. 
"  That's  only  because  I  interrupt  and  ask 
so  many  side  questions,"  replied  Mr.  Thornton ;  "  but  I 
hope  yet  to  learn  more  about  those  *  suitable  conditions  ' 
for  nitrogen-fixation  and  nitrification.  It  begins  to  look 
as  though  the  nitrogen  cycle  deviates  a  good  deal  from  a 
true  circle,  and  nature  seems  to  need  some  help  from  us  to 
make  that  element  circulate  as  fast  as  we  need  it.  I  con- 
fess, too,  that  this  method  appeals  to  me  much  more  than 
the  twenty-cents-a-pound  proposition  of  the  fertilizer 
agent." 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  added  Miss  Russell ;  "  and  if  we  had  to 
spend  three  dollars  an  acre  on  this  farm  our  '  Slough  of 
Despond '  would  be  worse  than  the  slough,  or  swamp,  Mr. 
Johnston  has  told  us  about." 

"  I  fear  the  practical  and  profitable  improvement  of  an 
acre  of  this  land  is  more  likely  to  cost  thirty  dollars  than 
three,"  said  Percy. 

"Oh,  for  the  land's  sake!"  came  the  ejaculation. 

"  Yes,  *  for  the  land's  sake,'  "  repeated  Percy ;  "  and 
for  the  sake  of  those  who  must  depend  upon  the  land  for 
their  support  for  all  time  hereafter." 

"  How  ridiculous !  Thirty  dollars  an  acre  for  the  im- 
provement of  land  that  will  not  bring  ten  dollars  to  begin 
with !  " 

"  It  is  better  to  look  at  the  other  end  of  the  undertak- 

115 


116  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ing,"  said  Percy.  "  Suppose  you  invest  thirty  dollars  an 
acre  and  in  a  few  years  make  your  ten-dollar  land  produce 
as  much  as  our  two-hundred  dollar  land!" 

"  But,  Mr.  Johnston ;  do  you  realize  how  much  money  it 
would  require  to  expend  thirty  dollars  an  acre  on  nine 
hundred  acres?"  continued  Miss  Russell,  with  stronger 
accentuation. 

"  Twenty-seven  thousand  dollars,"  was  the  simple  reply. 

"  Well,  Sir,"  she  said,  "  you  are  welcome  to  this  whole 
farm  for  ten  thousand  dollars." 

"  I  am  not  wishing  for  it,"  he  answered.  "  In  fact  I 
would  not  take  this  farm  as  a  gift,  if  I  were  obliged  to 
keep  it  and  pay  the  taxes  and  had  no  other  property  or 
source  of  income." 

"  That's  just  the  kind  of  talk  I've  been  putting  up  to 
these  girls,"  said  Mr.  Thornton.  "By  the  time  we  live 
and  pay  about  two  hundred  dollars  a  year  taxes  on  all 
this  land,  I  tell  you,  there  is  nothing  left ;  and  we'd  been 
worse  off  than  we  are,  except  for  the  sale  we  made  to  the 
railroad  company." 

"  Well,  the  Russells  lived  here  very  well  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years,"  she  retorted,  "  and  my  grandfather 
supported  one  nigger  for  every  ten  acres  of  the  farm,  but 
I  would  like  to  know  any  farmers  about  here  who  can  put 
thirty  dollars  an  acre,  or  even  ten  dollars  an  acre,  back 
into  their  soil  for  improvement." 

"  The  problem  is  indeed  a  serious  one,"  said  Percy. 
"  Unquestionably  much  of  the  land  in  these  older  states 
is  far  past  the  point  of  possible  self-redemption  under  the 
present  ownership.  Land  from  which  the  fertility  has 
been  removed  by  two  hundred  years  of  cropping,  until  it 
has  ceased  to  return  a  living  to  those  who  till  it,  cannot 
have  its  fertility  restored  sufficiently  to  again  make  its 
cultivation  profitable,  except  by  making  some  considerable 


PAST  SELF-REDEMPTION  117 

investment  in  order  to  replace  those  essential  elements  the 
supply  of  which  has  become  so  limited  as  to  limit  the  crop 
yields  to  a  point  where  their  value  is  below  the  cost  of 
production.  Even  on  the  remaining  productive  lands  in 
the  North  Central  States,  if  we  are  ever  to  adopt  systems 
of  permanent  agriculture,  it  must  be  done  while  the  land- 
owners are  still  prosperous.  If  the  people  of  the  corn  belt 
repeat  the  history  of  the  Eastern  States  until  their  lands 
cease  to  return  a  profit  above  the  total  cost  of  production, 
then  they,  too,  will  have  nothing  left  to  invest  in  the  im- 
provement of  their  lands." 

"  But  their  fertility  could  be  restored  by  outside  capi- 
tal? "  suggested  Mr.  Thornton.  "  I  know  very  well  that 
is  the  only  solution  of  our  problem." 

"  Well,  Tom,  I  would  like  to  know  where  the  outside 
capital  is  coming  from,"  said  Miss  Russell. 

"  Marry  rich,"  he  replied.  "  Don't  make  such  a  blun- 
der as  your  sister  did." 

"  I  fear  that  Mr.  Johnston  will  suggest  that  we  sell 
some  more  land,"  remarked  Mrs.  Thornton. 

"  All  right,"  replied  her  sister ;  "  and  we  will  sell  it  to 
him.  If  he  won't  take  the  whole  farm  as  a  gift,  we'll  cut 
it  to  any  length  he  wishes.  Do  you  consider  '  Ten  Acres 
Enough,'  Mr.  Johnston ;  or  would  you  prefer  '  Three  Acres 
and  Liberty?'  We'll  do  our  best  to  enable  you  to  enjoy 
'  The  Fat  of  the  Land.'  Just  tell  us  how  large  a  farm  you 
want ;  I  know  already  that  you  do  not  want  nine  hundred 
acres." 

"  My  dear  Miss  Russell,"  said  Percy.  "  This  is  so  sud- 
den " ;  whereupon  Mr.  Thornton  nearly  fell  from  his  chair 
and  Mrs.  Thornton  laughed  heartily  at  the  sister's  expense, 
who  blushed  as  she  might  have  done  twenty  years  before. 

"  However,"  Percy  resumed,  "  if  you  should  decide  to 
dispose  of  about  half  of  that  seven  hundred  acres  which 


118  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

you  use  only  as  a  safety  bank  for  most  of  your  two  hun- 
dred dollars  in  taxes,  please  consider  me  a  prospective 
taker." 

"  Take  her,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  and  again  confusion 
reigned. 

"  Tom  is  so  anxious  to  get  rid  of  his  sister-in-law  that 
he  reminds  me  of  the  man  whose  mother-in-lav  died,"  said 
Miss  Russell.  "  He  was  too  far  from  home  to  return  to 
the  usual  funeral,  and  they  telegraphed  him  the  sad  news 
and  asked  if  they  should  embalm,  cremate,  or  bury  the  re- 
mains. He  wired  back:  *  Embalm,  cremate,  and  bury.'" 

"  That  matter  of  outside  capital  is  by  no  means  so  sub- 
stantial as  it  might  seem,"  said  Percy.  "  It  is  worth  while 
to  consider  how  little  real  wealth  there  would  be  in  America 
if  the  remaining  rich  lands  should  become  impoverished. 
The  railroads  would  at  once  cease  to  pay  dividends,  and 
those  who  are  now  millionaires  in  railroad  stock  would  find 
themselves  on  the  rapid  road  to  poverty.  The  manufac- 
turer of  finished  products  from  the  raw  materials  raised  on 
the  farm,  the  manufacturer  of  agricultural  implements, 
and  the  great  urban  population  whose  income  is  from  the 
trade  in  T&yf  materials  and  manufactured  goods  would  soon 
see  their  wealth  shrivel.  The  great  sky  scrapers  of  the 
cities  would  be  left  for  the  owls  and  bats  to  harbor  in,  if 
our  agricultural  lands  ceased  to  yield  their  great  harvests. 
Meanwhile  the  farming  people  would  continue  to  live  upon 
the  meager  products  still  produced  from  the  impoverished 
soil,  even  though  they  had  no  surplus  food  to  ship  into  the 
cities.  Human  labor  would  replace  that  of  domestic  ani- 
mals on  the  farm,  just  as  it  has  done  in  China  and  India,  in 
part  because  man's  labor  is  worth  more  than  that  of  the 
beast,  when  measured  only  by  the  amount  of  food  con- 
sumed, and  in  part  because  a  thousand  bushels  of  grain 
will  support  five  times  as  many  people  as  can  be  sup- 


PAST  SELF-REDEMPTION  119 

ported  for  the  same  time  upon  the  animal  products  that 
could  be  produced  by  feeding  the  grain." 

"  Oh,  that  is  such  a  gloomy  view  to  take  of  it,"  said 
Miss  Russell. 

"  And  all  the  world  loves  an  optimist,"  replied  Percy 
laughingly.  "  Soils  do  not  wear  out ;  there  is  no  poor 
land ;  the  farms  are  better  and  the  crops  larger  than  ever 
before;  and  we  are  the  people  of  the  world's  greatest  na- 
tion, with  an  assured  future  glory  which  surpasses  all 
conception." 

"  As  soon  as  we  get  the  canal  dug,"  suggested  Mr. 
Thornton. 

"  Yes,  we  will  surely  be  able  to  dig  that  Panama  ditch," 
said  Percy ;  "  and  probably  our  resources  will  last  to  cut 
a  gash  or  two  in  our  interior,  if  we  don't  build  too  many 
battle  ships.  You  know  Egypt  built  three  great  pyramids 
before  her  resources  became  reduced  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  people  required  all  their  energies  to  secure  a  living." 


CHAPTER    XVII 

MOKE  PROBLEMS 

let  us  give  Mr.  Johnston  a  chance  to  tell 
us  about  the  nitrogen  problem,"  said  Mr. 
Thornton.  "  I'm  pretty  well  satisfied  with  the 
natural  circulation  of  carbon,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen ;  but 
I  want  to  understand  all  I  can  of  the  practical  methods  of 
securing  and  utilizing  nitrogen ;  and  we  have  heard  almost 
nothing  about  the  other  six  essential  elements  which  the 
soil  must  furnish.  Let  me  see. —  I  think  you  said  that 
iron,  calcium,  magnesium,  and  potassium  are  usually 
abundant  in  the  soil,  while  phosphorus  and  sulfur  are  very 
limited." 

"  Yes,  that  is  the  rule  under  general  or  average  con- 
ditions, but  it  should  be  stated  that  the  amount  of  sulfur 
required  by  plants  is  very  small  as  compared  with  phos- 
phorus, a  difference  which  places  a  great  distinction  be- 
tween them.  Besides  considerable  quantities  of  sulfur  are 
returned  to  the  air  in  the  combustion  of  coal  and  organic 
matter,  and  this  returns  to  the  soil  in  rain.  The  infor- 
mation thus  far  secured  shows  that  sulfur  rarely  if  ever 
limits  the  crop  yields  under  field  conditions ;  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  iron,  which  is  required  by  plants  in  very 
small  amount  and  is  contained  in  practically  all  soils  in 
enormous  quantities. 

"  While  normal  soils  contain  abundance  of  potassium, 
with  an  average  of  only  one-fourth  as  much  calcium  and 
magnesium;  yet,  when  measured  by  crop  requirements  for 

120 


MORE  PROBLEMS  121 

plant  food,  the  supplies  of  these  three  elements  are  not 
markedly  different.  On  the  other  hand,  about  300  pounds 
of  calcium  are  lost  per  acre  per  annum  by  leaching  from 
good  soils  in  humid  climates,  compared  with  about  10 
pounds  of  potassium  and  intermediate  amounts  of  mag- 
nesium; so  that,  of  these  three  elements,  calcium  requires 
by  far  the  most  consideration  and  potassium  the  least,  even 
aside  from  the  use  of  limestone  to  correct  or  prevent  soil 
acidity. 

"Among  the  conditions  essential  for  nitrification  may 
be  mentioned  the  presence  of  free  oxygen  and  limestone; 
and  of  course  all  bacteria  require  certain  food  materials, 
resembling  other  plants  in  this  respect." 

"  Are  they  plants  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Thornton.  "  I  thought 
they  were  tiny  little  animals." 

"  No,  they  are  classified  as  plants,"  replied  Percy ;  "  but 
the  scientists  have  difficulty  with  some  of  the  lower  organ- 
isms to  decide  whether  they  are  plants  or  animals.  The 
college  boys  used  to  say  that  some  animals  were  plants  in 
the  botanical  department  and  animals  again  when  they 
studied  zoology.  Orton  says  it  is  easy  to  tell  a  cow  from 
a  cabbage,  but  impossible  to  assign  any  absolute,  distinct- 
ive character  which  will  divide  animal  life  from  plant  life. 

"  The  oxygen  is  essential  for  nitrification,  because  that 
is  an  oxidation  process.  That  is,  it  is  a  kind  of  combus- 
tion, so  to  speak.  The  organic  matter  is  oxidized  or  con- 
verted into  substances  containing  more  oxygen  than  in  the 
original  form.  In  ammonification  the  carbon  is  separated 
or  divorced  from  the  nitrogen  and  united  with  oxygen. 
Some  of  the  hydrogen  of  the  organic  matter  remains  tem- 
porarily with  the  carbon,  and  some  is  held  temporarily  with 
the  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  ammonia. 

"  The  nitrite  bacteria  replace  two  of  the  hydrogen  atoms 
in  ammonia  with  one  of  oxygen,  and  insert  another  oxygen 


122  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

atom  between  the  nitrogen  and  the  remaining  hydrogen, 
thus  forming  nitrous  acid;  H — 0 — N=O,  or  HNO2. 

"  The  nitrate  bacteria  then  cause  the  direct  addition  of 
another  oxygen  atom,  which  is  held  by  the  two  extra  bonds 
of  the  nitrogen  atom,  which  you  will  remember  is  a  five- 
handed  atom. 

"  Thus  you  will  see  the  absolute  need  of  free  oxygen  in 
the  nitrification  process;  and  we  can  control  the  rate 
of  nitrification  to  a  considerable  extent  by  our  methods  of 
tillage.  In  soils  deficient  in  organic  matter,  excessive  cul- 
tivation may  still  liberate  sufficient  nitrogen  for  a  fairly 
satisfactory  crop ;  and  the  benefits  of  such  excessive  culti- 
vation of  potatoes  and  other  vegetables  is  more  often  due 
to  increased  nitrification  than  to  the  conservation  of  moist- 
ure, to  which  it  is  frequently  ascribed  by  agricultural 
writers. 

"  Thus  the  more  we  cultivate,  the  more  we  hasten  the 
nitrification,  oxidation,  or  destruction  of  the  organic  mat- 
ter or  humus  of  the  soil.  Where  the  soil  is  well  supplied 
with  decaying  organic  matter,  we  rarely  need  to  cultivate 
in  a  humid  section  like  this,  except  for  the  purpose  of  kill- 
ing weeds. 

"  The  presence  of  carbonates  in  the  soil  is  essential  for 
nitrification,  because  the  bacteria  will  not  continue  the 
process  in  the  presence  of  their  own  product.  Nitrifica- 
tion ceases  if  the  nitrous  or  nitric  acid  remains  as  such; 
but,  in  the  presence  of  carbonates,  such  as  calcium  carbon- 
ate (ordinary  limestone)  or  the  double  carbonate  of  mag- 
nesium and  calcium  (magnesian  limestone,  or  dolomite), 
the  nitrous  acid  or  nitric  acid  is  converted  into  a  neutral 
salt  of  calcium  or  magnesium,  one  of  these  atoms  taking 
the  place  of  two  hydrogen  atoms  and  forming,  say,  calcium 
nitrate:  Ca(NO3)2.  At  the  same  time  the  hydrogen 
atoms  take  the  place  of  the  calcium  in  limestone  (CaCO3), 


MORE  PROBLEMS  123 

and  form  carbonic  acid  (H2CO3),  which  at  once  decom- 
poses into  water  (H2O)  and  carbon  dioxid  (CO2)»  which 
thus  escapes  as  a  gas  into  the  air  or  remains  in  the  pores 
of  the  soil. 

"  The  fact  that  nitrification  will  not  proceed  in  the  pres- 
ence of  acid  reminds  us  that  only  a  certain  degree  of  acid- 
ity can  be  developed  in  sour  milk.  Here  the  lactic  acid 
bateria  produce  the  acid  from  milk  sugar,  but  the  process 
stops  when  about  seven-tenths  of  one  per  cent,  of  lactic 
acid  has  developed.  If  some  basic  substance,  such  as  lime, 
is  then  added,  the  acid  is  neutralized  and  the  fermentation 
again  proceeds. 

"  In  the  general  process  of  decay  and  oxidation  of  the 
organic  matter  of  the  soil,  the  nitrogen  thus  passes 
through  the  forms  of  ammonia,  nitrous  acid,  and  nitric 
acid,  and  at  the  same  time  the  carbon  passes  into  various 
acid  compounds,  including  the  complex  humic  and  ulmic 
acids,  and  smaller  amounts  of  acetic  acid  (found  in  vine- 
gar), lactic  acid,  oxalic  acid  (found  in  oxalis),  and  tar- 
taric  acid  (found  in  grapes).  The  final  oxidation  products 
of  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  are  carbon  dioxid  and  water, 
which  result  from  the  decomposition  of  the  carbonic  acid. 

"  Now  the  various  acids  of  carbon  and  nitrogen  consti- 
tute one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  soil  fertility. 
They  are  the  means  by  which  the  farmer  can  dissolve  and 
make  available  for  the  growing  crops  the  otherwise  in- 
soluble mineral  elements,  such  as  iron,  calcium,  magnesium, 
and  potassium,  all  of  which  are  contained  in  most  soils  in 
great  abundance.  These  elements  exist  in  the  soil  chiefly 
in  the  form  of  insoluble  silicates.  Silicon  itself  is  a  four- 
handed  element  which  bears  somewhat  the  same  relation  to 
the  mineral  matter  of  the  soil  as  carbon  bears  to  the  or- 
ganic matter.  Quartz  sand  is  silicon  dioxid  (SiO2).  Oxy- 
gen, which  is  present  in  nearly  all  substances,  including  air, 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

water,  and  most  solids,  constitutes  about  one-half  of  all 
known  matter.  Silicon  is  next  in  abundance,  amounting 
to  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth. 
Aluminum  is  third  in  abundance  (about  seven  per  cent), 
aluminum  silicate  being  common  clay.  Iron,  calcium,  po- 
tassium, sodium,  and  magnesium,  in  this  order,  complete 
the  eight  abundant  elements,  which  aggregate  about 
ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth. 

"  It  is  worth  while  to  know  that  about  two  and  one-half 
per  cent,  of  the  earth's  crust  is  potassium,  while  about  one- 
tenth  of  one  per  cent,  is  phosphorus;  also  that  when  a 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  are  sold  from  the  farm,  seventeen 
pounds  of  phosphorus,  nineteen  of  potassium,  and  seven 
of  magnesium  are  carried  away. 

"  The  acids  formed  from  the  decaying  organic  matter 
not  only  liberate  for  the  use  of  crops  the  mineral  elements 
contained  in  the  soil  in  abundance,  but  they  also  help  to 
make  available  the  phosphorus  of  raw  phosphate,  when 
naturally  contained  in  the  soil,  as  it  is  to  some  extent  in 
all  soils,  or  when  applied  to  the  soil  in  the  fine-ground 
natural  phosphate  from  the  mines. 

"  Now  the  increase  or  decrease  of  organic  matter  in  the 
soil  is  measured  with  a  very  good  degree  of  satisfaction 
by  the  element  nitrogen,  which  is  a  regular  constituent  of 
the  organic  matter  of  the  soil ;  and  you  are  already  famil- 
iar, Mr.  Thornton,  with  the  amounts  of  nitrogen  contained 
in  average  farm  manure  and  in  some  of  our  most  common 
crops." 

"  Yes,  Sir,  I  have  some  of  the  figures  in  my  note-book 
and  I  mean  to  have  them  in  my  head  very  soon.  But,  say, 
that  organic  matter  seems  to  be  a  thing  of  tremendous 
importance,  and  I'm  sure  we've  got  mighty  little  of  it.  I 
think  about  the  only  thing  we'll  need  to  do  to  make  this  old 
farm  productive  again  is  to  grow  the  vegetation  and  plow 


MORE  PROBLEMS  125 

it  under.  As  it  decays,  it  will  furnish  the  nitrogen,  and 
liberate  the  phosphorus,  potassium,  calcium,  and  mag- 
nesium ;  and  we  may  have  plenty  of  all  of  them  just  wait- 
ing to  be  liberated." 

"  That  is  altogether  possible,"  said  Percy ;  "  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  your  soil  is  acid  and  consequently  will 
not  grow  clover  or  alfalfa  successfully,  or  even  cowpeas 
very  satisfactorily.  A  liberal  use  of  ground  limestone  and 
large  use  of  clover  may  be  sufficient  to  greatly  improve 
your  soil ;  but  if  I  am  permitted  to  separate  Miss  Russell 
and  the  Thorntons  " —  Mr.  Thornton's  hilarious  "  Ha, 
ha  "  cut  Percy  short.  He  crimsoned  and  the  ladies  smiled 
at  each  other  with  expressions  that  revealed  nothing  what- 
ever. 

"  Now  let  me  finish,"  Percy  continued,  when  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton had  somewhat  subsided.  "  I  say,  if  I  am  permitted 
to  separate  Miss  Russell  and  the  Thorntons  from  about 
three  hundred  acres  of  their  land,  I  shall  certainly  wish  to 
know  its  total  content  of  phosphorus,  potassium,  mag- 
nesium, and  calcium,  before  I  make  any  purchase ;  and,  if 
you  will  remember  the  pot  cultures  and  the  peaty  swamp 
land,  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me." 

"  Well,  I  shall  be  mighty  glad  to  know  that  myself," 
said  Mr.  Thornton,  "  and  we  shall  much  appreciate  it  if 
you  can  tell  us  how  to  secure  that  information." 

"  We  can  collect  some  soil  to-morrow,"  Percy  replied, 
"  and  send  it  to  a  chemist  for  analysis." 

"  Good,"  said  Mr.  Thornton ;  "  now  just  one  more  ques- 
tion, and  I  think  I  shall  sleep  better  if  I  have  it  answered 
to-night.  Just  what  is  meant  by  potash  and  phosphoric 
acid?" 

"  Potash,"  said  Percy,  "  is  a  compound  of  potassium 
and  oxygen.  The  proportions  are  one  atom  of  oxygen 
and  two  atoms  of  potassium,  which  you  may  remember  are 


126  THE  STORY  Of  THE  SOIL 

single-handed  and  weigh  thirty-nine,  so  that  seventy-eight 
of  potassium  unite  with  sixteen  of  oxygen.  A  better  name 
for  the  compound  is  potassium  oxid:  K20.  The  Latin 
name  for  potassium  is  kalium,  and  K  is  the  symbol  used 
for  an  atom  of  that  element.  If  you  were  to  purchase 
potassium  in  the  form  of  potassium  chlorid,  which  in  the 
East  is  often  called  by  the  old  incorrect  name  *  muriate  of 
potash,'  the  salt  might  be  guaranteed  to  contain  a  certain 
percentage  of  potash,  which,  however,  consists  of  eighty- 
three  per  cent,  of  potassium  and  seventeen  of  oxygen." 

"  Just  what  is  this  potassium  chlorid,  or  *  muriate  of 
potash »  ?  " 

"  Pure  potassium  chlorid  contains  only  the  two  elements, 
potassium  and  chlorin." 

"  But  didn't  you  say  that  it  was  guaranteed  to  contain 
potash  and  that  potash  is  part  oxygen?  Now  you  say  it 
contains  only  potassium  and  chlorin." 

"  Yes,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  this  is  one  of  those  blun- 
ders of  our  semi-scientific  ancestors  for  which  we  still  suffer. 
The  chemist  understands  that  the  meaning  of  the  guaran- 
tee of  potash  is  the  amount  of  potash  that  the  potassium 
present  in  the  potassium  chlorid  could  be  converted  into. 
The  best  you  can  do  is  to  reduce  the  potash  guarantee  to 
potassium  by  taking  eighty-three  per  cent,  of  it ;  or,  to  be 
more  exact,  divide  by  ninety-four  and  multiply  by  seventy- 
eight,  in  order  to  eliminate  the  sixteen  parts  of  oxygen. 

"  It  may  be  well  to  keep  in  mind  that  when  the  druggist 
says  potash  he  means  potassium  hydroxid,  KOH,  a  com- 
pound of  potassium,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  as  the  name 
indicates." 

"  You  mentioned  the  word  chlorin,"  said  Mr.  Thornton. 
"That  is  another  element?" 

"  Yes,  that  is  a  very  common  element.  Ordinary  table 
salt  is  sodium  chlorid :  NaCl.  Sodium  is  called  natrium  in 


MORE  PROBLEMS  127 

Latin,  and  Na  is  the  symbol  used  in  English  to  be  in  har- 
mony with  all  other  languages,  for  practically  all  use  the 
same  chemical  symbols.  Sodium  and  potassium  are  very 
similar  elements  in  some  respects,  and  in  the  free  state  they 
are  very  peculiar,  apparently  taking  fire  when  thrown  into 
water.  Chlorin  in  the  free  state  is  a  poisonous  gas.  Thus 
the  change  in  properties  is  well  illustrated  when  these  two 
dangerous  elements,  sodium  and  chlorin,  unite  to  form  the 
harmless  compound  which  we  call  common  salt. 

"  It  is  a  shame,"  continued  Percy,  "  that  agricultural 
science  has  so  long  been  burdened  with  such  a  term  as 
'  phosphoric  acid,'  which  serves  to  complicate  and  confuse 
what  should  be  made  the  simplest  subject  to  every  Ameri- 
can farmer  and  landowner.  As  agriculture  is  the  funda- 
mental support  of  America  and  of  all  her  other  great  in- 
dustries, so  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  the  absolute  support 
of  every  form  of  agriculture.  Now,  if  there  is  any  one 
factor  that  can  be  the  most  important,  where  so  many  are 
positively  essential,  then  the  most  important  factor  in  the 
problem  of  adopting  and  maintaining  permanent  systems 
of  profitable  agriculture  on  American  soils  is  the  element 
phosphorus. 

"  Phosphorus  in  very  appreciable  amount  is  positively 
necessary  for  the  growth  of  every  organism.  It  is  an 
absolutely  essential  constituent  of  the  nucleus  of  every  liv- 
ing cell,  whether  plant  or  animal.  Nuclein,  itself,  which 
is  the  substance  nearest  to  the  beginning  of  a  new  cell,  con- 
tains as  high  as  ten  per  cent,  of  the  element  phosphorus. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  phosphorus  is  the  most  limited  of 
all  the  plant  food  elements,  measured  by  supply  and  de- 
mand and  circulation. 

"  What  is  phosphoric  acid  ?  Well,  the  professor  of  chem- 
istry says  it  is  a  compound  containing  three  atoms  of  hy- 
drogen, one  of  phosphorus,  and  four  of  oxygen.  It  is  a 


128  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

syrupy  liquid  and  one  of  the  strongest  mineral  acids.  In 
concentrated  form  it  is  as  caustic  as  oil  of  vitriol.  Why, 
here  you  have  a  Century  dictionary!  That  should  tell 
what  phosphoric  acid  is.  This  is  what  the  Century  says : 

"  *  It  is  a  colorless,  odorless  syrup,  with  an  intensely 
sour  taste.  It  is  tribasic,  forming  three  distinct  classes 
of  metallic  salts.  The  three  atoms  of  hydrogen  may  in 
like  manner  be  replaced  by  alcohol  radicles,  forming  acid 
and  neutral  ethers.  Phosphoric  acid  is  used  in  medicine 
as  a  tonic.' 

"  That,"  continued  Percy,  "  is  the  complete  definition  as 
given  by  the  Century  dictionary  as  to  what  phosphoric 
acid  is,  and  I  note  that  this  is  the  latest  edition  of  the 
Century,  copyrighted  in  1902." 

"  We  bought  it  less  than  a  month  ago,"  said  Mrs. 
Thornton.  "  We  can  have  so  few  books  that  we  thought 
the  Century  would  be  a  pretty  good  library  in  itself;  Mr. 
Thornton  has  had  too  little  time  to  use  it  much  as  yet." 

"  Well,  even  if  I  had  used  it,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  "  you 
see  there  are  five  volumes  before  I'd  get  to  the  P's.  But, 
joking  aside,  I  don't  get  much  out  of  that  definition  ex- 
cept that  phosphoric  acid  is  a  sour  liquid  and  is  used  in 
medicine." 

"  The  definition  is  entirely  correct,"  said  Percy.  "  Any 
text  on  chemistry  will  give  you  a  very  similar  definition, 
and  your  physician  and  druggist  will  give  you  the  same  in- 
formation." 

"Well,  I  know  the  fertilizer  agents  claim  to  sell  phos- 
phoric acid  in  two-hundred-pound  bags  which  wouldn't 
hold  any  kind  of  liquid." 

"  True,"  replied  Percy,  "  and  I  consider  it  a  shame  that 
the  farm  boy  who  goes  to  the  high  school  or  college,  and  is 
there  taught  exactly  what  phosphoric  acid  is,  must,  when 
he  returns  to  the  farm,  try  to  read  bulletins  from  his  agri- 


MORE  PROBLEMS  129 

cultural  experiment  station  in  which  the  terra  *  phosphoric 
acid  '  is  used  for  what  it  is  not.  At  the  state  agricultural 
college,  the  professor  of  chemistry  correctly  teaches  the 
farm  boy  that  phosphoric  acid  is  a  liquid  compound  con- 
taining three  atoms  of  hydrogen,  one  of  phosphorus,  and 
four  of  oxygen,  in  the  molecule;  and  then  the  same  pro- 
fessor, as  an  experiment  station  investigator,  goes  to  the 
farmers'  institutes  and  incorrectly  teaches  the  same  boy's 
father  that  phosphoric  acid  is  a  solid  compound  containing 
two  atoms  of  phosphorus  and  five  atoms  of  oxygen  in  the 
molecule." 

"  But  why  do  they  continue  to  teach  such  confusion  ?  " 

"  Well,  Sir,  if  they  know,  they  never  tell.  In  some  man- 
ner this  misuse  of  the  name  was  begun,  and  every  year 
doubles  the  difficulty  of  stopping  it." 

"  Like  the  man  that  was  too  lazy  to  stop  work  when  he 
had  once  begun,"  remarked  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  Yes,"  said  Percy,  "  but  it  is  true  that  some  of  the 
States  have  adopted  the  practice  of  reporting  analyses  of 
soils  and  fertilizers  on  the  basis  of  nitrogen  instead  of  am- 
monia; and,  in  the  Corn-Belt  States,  phosphorus  and 
potassium  are  the  terms  used  to  a  large  extent  instead  of 
*  phosphoric  acid,'  and  potash.  The  agricultural  press  is 
greatly  assisting  in  bringing  about  the  adoption  of  the 
simpler  system,  and  the  laws  of  some  states  now  require 
that  the  percentages  of  the  actual  plant-food  elements, 
as  nitrogen,  phosphorus,  and  potassium,  shall  be  guaran- 
teed in  fertilizers  offered  for  sale.  It  is  one  of  those  ques- 
tions that  are  never  settled  until  they  are  settled  right ;  and 
it  is  only  a  question  of  time  until  the  simple  element  basis 
will  be  used  throughout  the  United  States,  or  at  least  in 
the  Central  and  Western  States. 

"  The  so-called  '  phosphoric  acid  '  of  the  fertilizer  agent 
is  a  compound  whose  molecule  contains  two  atoms  of  phos- 


ISO  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

phorus  and  five  atoms  of  oxygen;  and,  since  the  atomic 
weight  of  phosphorus  is  thirty-one  and  that  of  oxygen  six- 
teen, this  compound  contains  sixty-two  parts  of  phosphorus 
and  eighty  parts  of  oxygen.  In  other  words,  this  '  phos- 
phoric acid,'  falsely  so-called,  contains  a  trifle  less  than 
forty-four  per  cent,  of  the  actual  element  phosphorus." 

"  Is  the  bone  phosphate  of  lime  that  the  agents  talk 
about  the  same  as  the  'phosphoric  acid'?"  asked  Mr. 
Thornton. 

"  No,  by  *  bone  phosphate  of  lime,'  which  is  often  ab- 
breviated B.  P.  L.,  is  meant  tricalcium  phosphate,  a  com- 
pound which  contains  exactly  twenty  per  cent,  of  phos- 
phorus. Thus,  you  can  always  divide  the  guaranteed  per- 
centage of  *  bone  phosphate  of  lime '  by  five,  and  the  re- 
sult will  be  the  per  cent,  of  phosphorus. 

"  As  stated  in  your  Century  dictionary,  true  phosphoric 
acid  forms  three  distinct  classes  of  salts,  because  either  one, 
two,  or  all  three  of  the  hydrogen  atoms  may  be  replaced 
by  a  metallic  element.  Thus,  we  have  phosphoric  acid  it- 
self containing  the  three  hydrogen  atoms,  one  phosphorus 
atom,  and  four  oxygen  atoms.  This  might  be  called  tri- 
hydrogen  phosphate  (H3PO4).  Now  if  one  of  the  hydro- 
gen atoms  is  replaced  by  one  potassium  atom,  we  have 
potassium  dihydrogen  phosphate  (KH2PO4)  ;  with  two  po- 
tassium atoms  and  one  hydrogen,  we  have  dipotassium  hy- 
drogen phosphate  (K2HPO4)  ;  and  if  all  hydrogen  is  re- 
placed by  potassium  the  compound  is  tripotassium  phos- 
phate (K3PO4).  To  make  similar  salts  with  two-handed 
metallic  elements,  like  calcium  or  magnesium,  we  need  to 
start  with  two  molecules  of  phosphoric  acid,  H6(PO4)2 ;  be- 
cause each  atom  of  calcium  will  replace  two  hydrogen 
atoms.  Thus  we  have  monocalcium  phosphate,  CaH4- 
(PO4)2,  dicalcium  phosphate,  Ca2H2(P04)2,  and  trical- 
cium phosphate,  Ca3(PO4)2.  It  goes  without  saying  that 


MORE  PROBLEMS  131 

monocalcium  phosphate  contains  four  atoms  of  hydrogen 
and  that  dicalcium  phosphate  contains  two  hydrogen 
atoms.  By  knowing  the  atomic  weights  (40  for  calcium, 
31  for  phosphorus,  and  16  for  oxygen),  it  is  easy  to  com- 
pute that  the  molecule  of  tricalcium  phosphate  weighs 
310,  of  which  62  is  phosphorus.  This  is  exactly  one-fifth, 
or  twenty  per  cent.  This  compound  you  will  remember  is 
sometimes  called  '  bone  phosphate  of  lime.'  It  is  also 
called  simply  *  bone  phosphate  ' ;  because  it  is  the  phos- 
phorus compound  contained  in  bones.  It  is  sometimes 
called  lime  phosphate,  although  it  contains  no  lime  in  the 
true  sense,  for  it  has  no  power  to  neutralize  acid  soils,  ex- 
cept when  the  phosphorus  is  taken  up  by  plants  more  rap- 
idly than  the  calcium,  which  in  such  case  might  remain 
in  the  soil  to  act  as  a  base  to  neutralize  soil  acids ;  but  even 
then  the  effect  of  the  small  amount  of  calcium  thus  liber- 
ated from  the  phosphate  would  be  very  insignificant  com- 
pared with  a  liberal  application  of  ground  limestone." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  stretching  himself,  "  orange 
phosphate  is  my  favorite  drink,  but  I  fear  some  of  these 
phosphates  you  have  just  been  giving  me  are  too  concen- 
trated. I  ought  to  have  the  dose  diluted;  but  I  like  the 
taste  of  it,  and  if  you'll  write  a  book  along  this  line,  in  this 
plain  way  just  about  as  you  have  been  giving  it  to  me 
straight  for  almost  twelve  hours,  I  tell  you  I'll  read  it 
over  till  I  learn  to  understand  it  a  heap  better  than  I  do 
now." 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EAKTH 

THE  following  day  Percy  collected  soil  samples  to 
represent  the  common  type  of  soil  on  the  farm.  In 
the  main  the  land  was  nearly  level  and  very  uni- 
form, although  here  and  there  were  small  areas  which 
varied  from  the  main  type,  and  in  places  the  variation  was 
marked.  Percy  and  his  host  devoted  the  entire  day  to  an 
examination  of  the  soils  of  the  farm  and  the  collection  of 
the  samples. 

"  The  prevailing  soil  type  is  what  would  be  called  a 
loam,"  said  Percy,  "  and  a  single  set  of  composite  samples 
will  fairly  represent  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  land  on 
this  farm. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  enough  for  the  present  to 
sample  this  prevailing  type ;  and  later,  if  you  desire,  you 
could  collect  samples  of  the  minor  types,  of  which  there  are 
at  least  three  that  are  quite  distinct. 

"  A  loam  soil  is  one  that  includes  a  fair  proportion  of 
the  several  groups  of  soil  materials,  including  silt,  clay, 
and  sand." 

"What  is  silt?"  asked  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  Silt  consists  of  the  soil  particles  which  are  finer  than 
sand, —  too  small  in  fact  to  be  felt  as  soil  grains  by  rub- 
bing between  the  fingers,  and  yet  it  is  distinctly  granular, 
while  clay  is  a  mere  plastic  or  sticky  mass  like  dough. 
What  are  commonly  called  clay  soils  consist  largely  of  silt, 
but  contain  enough  true  clay  to  bind  the  silt  into  a  stiff 

132 


CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EARTH  133 

mass.  In  the  main  such  soils  are  silt  loams,  but  when  de- 
ficient in  organic  matter  they  are  yellow  in  color  as  a  rule, 
and  all  such  material  is  usually  called  clay  by  the  farmers." 

"  Well,  I  had  no  idea  that  it  would  take  us  a  whole  day 
to  get  enough  dirt  for  an  analysis,"  remarked  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton, as  they  were  collecting  the  samples  late  in  the  after- 
noon. "  Five  minutes  would  have  been  plenty  of  time  for 
me,  before  I  saw  the  holes  you've  bored  to-day." 

"  The  fact  is,"  replied  Percy,  "  that  the  most  difficult 
work  of  the  soil  investigator  is  to  collect  the  samples.  Of 
course  any  one  could  fill  these  little  bags  with  soil  in  five 
minutes,  but  the  question  is,  what  would  the  soil  represent? 
It  may  represent  little  more  than  the  hole  it  came  out  of, 
as  would  be  the  case  where  the  soil  had  been  disturbed  by 
burrowing  animals,  or  modified  by  surface  accumulations, 
as  where  a  stack  may  sometime  have  been  burned.  In  the 
one  case  the  subsoil  may  have  been  brought  up  and  mixed 
with  the  surface,  and  in  the  other  the  mineral  constituents 
taken  from  forty  acres  in  a  crop  of  clover  may  have  been 
returned  to  one-tenth  of  an  acre." 

"  Certainly  such  things  have  occurred  on  many  farms," 
agreed  Mr.  Thornton,  "  and  they  may  have  occurred  on 
this  farm  for  all  any  one  knows." 

"  Eighty  tons  of  clover  hay,"  continued  Percy,  after 
making  a  few  computations,  "  would  contain  400  pounds  of 
phosphorus,  2400  pounds  of  potassium,  620  pounds  of 
magnesium,  and  2340  pounds  of  calcium." 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  keep  all  those  figures  in  your  head, 
Mr.  Johnston." 

"  How  many  pounds  are  there  in  a  ton  of  hay  ?  "  asked 
Percy. 

"  Two  thousand." 

"  How  many  pounds  in  a  bushel  of  oats?  " 

"  Thirty  in  Virginia,  but  thirty-two  in  Carolina." 


134  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  How  many  in  a  bushel  of  wheat?  " 

"  Sixty." 

"Corn?" 

"  Fifty-six  pounds  of  shelled  corn,  or  seventy  pounds  of 
ears." 

"Potatoes?" 

"  Fifty-six  pounds, —  both  kinds  the  same,  but  most 
States  require  sixty  pounds  for  the  Irish  potatoes." 

Percy  laughed.  "  You  see,"  he  said,  "  you  have  more 
figures  in  your  head  than  I  have  in  mine.  You  have  men- 
tioned twice  as  many  right  here,  without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation, as  I  try  to  remember  for  the  plant  food  contained 
in  clover.  I  like  to  keep  in  mind  the  requirements  of  large 
crops,  such  as  it  is  possible  to  raise  under  our  climatic 
conditions  if  we  will  provide  the  stuff  the  crops  are  made 
of,  so  far  as  we  need  to,  and  do  the  farm  work  as  it  should 
be  done.  I  never  try  to  remember  how  much  plant  food  is 
required  for  twenty-two  bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  which 
is  the  average  yield  of  Virginia  for  the  last  ten  years, 
while  an  authentic  record  reports  a  yield  of  239  bushels 
from  an  acre  of  land  in  South  Carolina.  On  our  little 
farm  in  Illinois  we  have  one  field  of  sixteen  acres,  which 
was  used  for  a  pasture  and  feed  lot  for  many  years  by  my 
grandfather  and  has  been  thoroughly  tile-drained  since  I 
was  born,  that  has  produced  as  high  as  2015  bushels  of 
corn  in  one  season,  thus  making  an  average  of  126  bushels 
per  acre. 

"  What  I  try  to  remember  is  the  plant-food  require- 
ments for  such  crops  as  we  ought  to  try  to  raise,  if  we  do 
what  ought  to  be  done.  I  try  to  remember  the  plant  food 
required  for  a  hundred-bushel  crop  of  corn,  a  hundred- 
bushel  crop  of  oats,  a  fifty-bushel  crop  of  wheat,  and  four 
tons  of  clover  hay.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  divide  these 
amounts  by  two,  as  I  have  really  been  doing  here  in  the 


CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EARTH  135 

East,  where  it  is  hard  for  people  to  think  in  terms  of  such 
crops  as  these  lands  ought  to  be  made  to  produce. 

"  The  requirements  of  the  clover  crop  I  certainly  want 
to  have  in  mind  as  a  part  of  my  little  stock  of  ever-ready 
knowledge.  It  is  not  very  hard  to  remember  that  a  four- 
ton  crop  of  clover  hay,  which  we  ought  to  harvest  from  one 
acre  in  two  cuttings,  contains : 

160  pounds  of  nitrogen, 

20  pounds  of  phosphorus, 
120  pounds  of  potassium, 

31  pounds  of  magnesium, 
117  pounds  of  calcium. 

"  It  is  just  as  easy  to  think  in  these  terms  as  in  per  cent, 
or  pounds  of  butter  fat,  which  I  understand  is  the  basis 
on  which  you  sell  your  cream." 

"  Yes,  I  believe  you  are  right  in  this  matter,  Mr.  John- 
ston, but  I  have  never  been  able  to  see  how  we  could  apply 
the  figures  reported  from  chemical  analysis." 

"  Neither  do  I  see  how  any  one  but  a  chemist  could  make 
much  use  of  the  reports  which  the  analyst  usually  pub- 
lishes. Such  reports  will  usually  show  the  percentages  of 
moisture  and  so-called  *  phosphoric  acid,'  for  example,  in 
a  sample  of  clover  hay,  and  perhaps  the  percentages  of 
these  constituents  in  a  sample  of  soil;  but  to  connect  the 
requirements  of  the  clover  crop  with  the  invoice  of  the  soil 
demands  more  of  a  mental  effort  than  I  was  prepared  for 
before  I  went  to  the  agricultural  college. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  we  were  taught  in  college  that  the 
plowed  soil  of  an  acre  of  our  most  common  Illinois  corn- 
belt  land  contains  only  1200  pounds  of  phosphorus,  and 
that  a  hundred-bushel  crop  of  corn  takes  twenty-three 
pounds  of  phosphorus  out  of  the  soil.  Furthermore,  that 
about  one  pound  of  phosphorus  per  acre  is  lost  annually 


186  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

in  drainage  water  in  humid  regions.  By  dividing  1200 
by  24<  it  is  easy  to  see  that  fifty  corn  crops  such  as  we 
ought  to  try  to  raise  would  require  as  much  phosphorus  as 
the  present  supply  in  our  soil  to  a  depth  of  nearly  seven 
inches.  Of  course  there  is  some  phosphorus  below  seven 
inches,  but  it  is  the  plowed  soil  we  must  depend  upon  to  a 
very  large  extent.  The  oldest  agricultural  experiment  sta- 
tion in  the  world  is  at  Rothamsted,  England.  On  two 
plots  of  ground  in  the  same  field  where  wheat  has  been 
grown  every  year  for  sixty  years,  the  soil  below  the  plow 
line  has  practically  the  same  composition,  but  on  one  plot 
the  average  yield  for  the  last  fifty  years  has  been  thirteen 
bushels  per  acre,  while  on  the  other  the  yield  of  wheat  has 
averaged  thirty-seven  bushels  for  the  same  fifty  years." 

**  The  same  kind  of  wheat?  "  inquired  Mr.  Thornton. 

"Yes,  and  great  care  has  always  been  taken  to  have 
these  two  plots  treated  alike  in  all  respects,  save  one." 

"  And  what  was  that  ?  ' 

"  Plant  food  was  regularly  incorporated  with  the  plowed 
soil  of  the  high-yielding  plot." 

"  You  mean  that  farm  manure  was  used?  " 

"  No,  not  a  pound  of  farm  manure  has  been  used  on  that 
plot  for  more  than  sixty  years ;  and,  furthermore,  the  two 
plots  were  very  much  alike  at  the  beginning;  but,  to  the 
high-yielding  plot,  nitrogen,  phosphorus,  potassium,  mag- 
nesium, calcium,  and  sulfur  have  all  been  applied  in  suit- 
able compounds  every  year." 

"  That  is  to  say,"  observed  Mr.  Thornton,  "  that  the 
land  itself  has  produced  thirteen  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre 
and  the  plant  food  applied  has  produced  twenty-four 
bushels,  making  the  total  yield  thirty-seven  bushels  on  the 
fertilized  land." 

"  That  is  certainly  a  fair  way  to  state  it,"  replied  Percy. 

"  Well,  that  sounds  as  though  something  might  be  done, 


CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EARTH  137 

with  run-down  lands.  About  what  part  of  the  twenty- 
four  bushels  increase  would  it  take  to  pay  for  the  ferti- 
lizers? " 

"  About  150  per  cent,  of  it,"  Percy  replied. 

"  One  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent. !  Why,  you  can't 
have  more  than  a  hundred  per  cent,  of  anything."' 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  can.  The  twenty-four  bushels  are  one 
hundred  per  cent,  of  what  the  fertilizers  produced,  and  the 
land  itself  increased  this  by  fifty  per  cent.,  so  that  the 
fertilized  land  produced  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent,  of 
the  increase  from  the  plant  food  applied." 

"  Well,  that's  too  much  college  mathematics  for  me ; 
but  do  you  mean  to  say  that  it  would  take  the  whole  thirty- 
seven  bushels  to  pay  for  the  plant  food  that  produced  the 
increase  of  twenty-four  bushels  ?  " 

"  That  is  exactly  what  I  mean.  I  see  that  you  do  not 
like  percentage  any  better  than  I  do.  Really  the  acre  is 
the  best  agricultural  unit.  We  buy  and  sell  the  land  it- 
self by  the  acre ;  we  report  crop  yields  at  so  many  bushels 
or  tons  per  acre;  we  apply  manure  at  so  many  loads  or 
tons  per  acre;  we  apply  so  many  hundred  pounds  of  fer- 
tilizer per  acre ;  sow  our  wheat  and  oats  at  so  many  pecks 
or  bushels  per  acre ;  and  we  ought  to  know  the  invoice  of 
plant  food  in  the  plowed  soil  of  an  acre  and  the  amounts 
carried  off  in  the  crops  removed  from  an  acre. 

"  Now,  referring  again  to  these  figures  from  the  forty 
acres  of  clover  at  two  tons  per  acre, —  if  the  eighty  tons 
were  burned  and  the  ashes  mixed  with  the  surface  soil  on 
a  tenth  of  an  acre,  the  increase  per  acre  would  be  as  fol- 
lows: 

4,000  pounds  of  phosphorus 
24,000  pounds  of  potassium 

6,200  pounds  of  magnesium 
£3,400  pounds  of  calcium. 


138  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  These,  remember,  are  the  amounts  per  acre  that  would 
be  added  to  the  soil  by  burning  the  eighty  tons  of  clover 
on  one-tenth  of  an  acre. 

"  Now  compare  these  figures  with  the  total  amounts  of 
the  same  elements  contained  in  the  common  corn-belt 
prairie  soil  of  Illinois,  which  are  as  follows : 

1,200  pounds  of  phosphorus 
35,000  pounds  of  potassium 

8,600  pounds  of  magnesium 
10,600  pounds  of  calcium. 

"  From  these  figures  you  will  see  that  the  analysis  of  a 
single  sample  of  soil  collected  from  a  spot  of  ground  that 
had  sometime  received  such  an  addition  as  this  would  be 
positively  worse  than  worthless,  because  it  would  give  false 
information,  and  that  is  much  worse  than  no  information. 

"  The  methods  of  chemical  analysis  have  been  developed 
to  a  high  degree  of  accuracy,  and  it  is  not  a  difficult  matter 
to  find  a  chemist  who  can  make  a  correct  analysis  of  the 
sample  placed  in  his  hands;  but  the  chief  difficulties  lie, 
first,  in  securing  samples  of  soil  that  will  truly  represent 
the  type  or  types  of  soil  on  the  farm ;  and,  second,  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  results  of  analysis  with  reference  to 
the  adoption  of  methods  of  soil  improvement." 

"  Is  the  report  of  the  analysis  as  confusing  with  re- 
spect to  other  elements  as  with  potassium  and  phosphorus, 
which,  I  understand,  are  likely  to  be  reported  in  terms  of 
potash  and  a  '  phosphoric  acid  '  that  is  not  true  phosphoric 
acid?" 

"  Still  worse,"'  Percy  replied.  "  The  calcium  is  com- 
monly reported  in  terms  of  lime,  or  as  you  would  say, 
quicklime ;  and  yet  the  soil  may  be  an  acid  soil,  like  yours, 
and  contain  no  lime  whatever,  neither  as  quicklime  nor  lime- 
stone. I  have  seen  an  analysis  reporting  half  a  per  cent. 


CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EARTH  139 

of  calcium  oxid,  which  would  make  five  tons  of  quicklime 
in  the  plowed  soil  of  an  acre;  whereas,  the  soil  not  only 
contained  no  lime  whatever,  but  was  so  acid  that  it  needed 
five  tons  of  ground  limestone  per  acre  to  correct  the 
acidity. 

"  The  trouble  is  that  when  the  chemist  found  calcium 
in  the  soil  existing  in  the  form  of  acid  silicate,  or  calcium 
hydrogen  silicate,  he  reported  calcium  oxid,  or  lime,  in  his 
analytical  statement,  assuming  apparently  that  the  farmer 
would  understand  that  the  analytical  statement  did  not 
mean  what  it  said." 

"  But  some  soils  do  contain  lime,  do  they  not  ?  " 

"  Some  soils  contain  limestone,"  replied  Percy,  "  and  the 
analysis  of  such  a  soil  should  report  the  amount  of  lime- 
stone, or  calcium  carbonate,  based  upon  the  actual  de- 
termination of  carbonate  carbon  or  carbon  dioxid,  which 
is  a  true  measure  of  the  basic  property  of  the  soil,  even 
though  the  limestone  may  be  somewhat  magnesian  in  char- 
acter." 

For  a  set  of  soil  samples,  Percy  collected  soil  from  three 
different  strata.  The  first  sample  represented  the  surface 
stratum  from  the  top  to  six  and  two-third  inches ;  the  sec- 
ond sample  represented  the  subsurface  stratum  from  six 
and  two-thirds  to  twenty  inches ;  and  the  third  sample 
represented  the  subsoil  from  twenty  to  forty  inches,  each 
sample  being  a  composite  of  about  twenty  borings. 

In  collecting  these  the  hole  was  bored  to  six  and  two- 
third  inches  and  somewhat  enlarged  by  scraping  up  and 
down  with  the  auger,  all  of  the  soil  being  put  into  a 
numbered  bag.  Then,  the  hole  was  extended  and  the  sub- 
surface boring  removed  without  touching  the  surface  soil. 
This  boring  to  a  depth  of  twenty  inches  was  put  into  a 
second  bag.  The  hole  was  then  enlarged  to  the  twenty- 
inch  depth,  but  the  additional  soil  removed  was  discarded 


140  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

as  a  mixture  of  the  surface  and  subsurface  strata.  Fi- 
nally the  hole  was  extended  to  the  forty-inch  depth  and  the 
subsoil  from  one  groove  of  the  auger  was  put  into  a  third 
bag.  In  this  manner  about  an  equal  quantity  of  soil  was 
bagged  from  each  stratum ;  and  twenty  such  borings  taken 
with  an  auger  about  one  inch  in  diameter  make  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  furnish  to  the  chemist. 

"  Of  course  the  surface  soil  is  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant," Percy  explained.  "  It  represents  just  about  the 
depth  of  earth  that  is  turned  by  the  plow  in  good  farming 
on  normal  soils ;  and  it  weighs  about  two  million  pounds 
per  acre.  The  subsurface  stratum,  extending  from  six  and 
two-thirds  to  twenty  inches  in  depth,  represents  the  practi- 
cal limit  of  subsoiling ;  and  this  stratum  weighs  about  four 
million  pounds ;  while  the  subsoil  stratum  weighs  about  six 
million  pounds,  where  the  soil  is  normal,  such  as  loam,  silt 
loam,  clay  loam,  or  sandy  loam.  Pure  sand  soil  weighs 
about  one-fourth  more,  while  pure  peat  soil  weighs  only 
half  as  much  as  normal  soil." 

"  I  wish  you  would  tell  me,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  "  what 
the  fertilizers  cost  that  have  been  used  on  that  Roth- 
amsted  wheat  field." 

"  The  annual  application  of  nitrogen  has  been  one  hun- 
dred twenty-nine  pounds  per  acre,"  said  Percy.  "  What 
will  it  cost?" 

"  Well,  at  twenty  cents  a  pound,  it  would  cost  $25.80," 
was  Mr.  Thornton's  reply  after  he  had  figured  a  moment. 
"  But  why  didn't  they  grow  clover  and  get  the  nitrogen 
from  the  air  ?  " 

"  For  two  reasons,"  replied  Percy.  "  First,  when  those 
classic  experiments  were  begun  by  Sir  John  Lawes  and  Sir 
Henry  Gilbert,  in  1844,  it  was  not  known  that  clover  could 
secure  the  free  nitrogen  from  the  air ;  and,  second,  the  ex- 
periment was  designed  to  discover  for  certain  whether 


CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EARTH  141 

wheat  must  be  supplied  with  combined  nitrogen,  by  ascer- 
taining the  actual  effect  upon  the  yield  of  wheat  of  the 
nitrogen  applied." 

"And  what  was  the  actual  effect  of  the  nitrogen?" 
questioned  Mr.  Thornton.  "  How  much  did  the  wheat 
yield  when  they  left  out  the  nitrogen  and  applied  all  the 
other  elements  ?  " 

"  Only  fifteen  bushels,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Only  fifteen  bushels !  Only  two  bushels  increase  for 
all  the  other  elements,  phosphorus,  potassium,  magnesium, 
and  calcium, —  and  I  remember  you  said  that  sulfur  also 
was  applied.  Why  didn't  they  leave  off  all  these  other 
elements,  and  just  use  the  nitrogen  alone?" 

"  They  did  on  another  plot  in  the  same  field." 

"Oh,  they  did  do  that?  What  was  the  yield  on  that 
plot?" 

"  Only  twenty  bushels." 

"  Only  twenty  bushels !  Well,  that's  mighty  queer. 
How  do  you  account  for  that?  " 

"  Does  Mrs.  Thornton  sometimes  make  dough  out  of 
flour  and  milk?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  Another  Yankee  question,  eh  ?  "  said  Mr.  Thornton. 
"  I  told  my  wife  once  that  I  wished  she  could  make  the 
bread  my  mother  used  to  make ;  and  she  said  she  wished  I 
could  make  the  '  dough  '  her  father  used  to  make.  Yes,  my 
wife  makes  dough,  a  good  deal  more  than  I  do,  and  she 
makes  it  of  flour  and  milk,  when  we  aren't  reduced  to  corn 
meal  and  water." 

"  Can  she  make  dough  of  flour  alone?  "  continued  Percy. 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  Thornton. 

"  Nor  of  milk  alone?  " 

"  No." 

"  Well,  wheat  cannot  be  made  of  nitrogen  alone,  nor  can 
it  be  made  without  nitrogen.  On  Broadbalk  field  at  Roth- 


142  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

amsted,  where  the  wheat  is  grown,  the  soil  is  most  deficient 
in  the  element  nitrogen.  In  other  words,  nitrogen  is  the 
limiting  element  for  wheat  on  that  soil ;  and  practically  no 
increase  can  be  made  in  the  yield  of  wheat  unless  nitrogen 
is  added.  However,  some  other  elements  are  not  furnished 
by  this  soil  in  sufficient  amount  for  the  largest  yield  of 
wheat,  and  these  place  their  limitation  upon  the  crop  at 
twenty  bushels.  To  remove  this  second  limitation  requires 
that  another  element,  such  as  phosphorus,  shall  be  sup- 
plied in  larger  amount  than  is  annually  liberated  in  the 
soil  under  the  system  of  farming  practiced." 

"  Yes,  I  see  that,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  "  it's  like  eating 
pancakes  and  honey;  the  more  cakes  you  have  the  more 
honey  you  want.  I  think  I  can  almost  see  my  way  through 
in  this  matter;  we  are  to  correct  the  acid  with  limestone, 
to  work  the  legumes  for  nitrogen,  and  turn  under  every- 
thing we  can  to  increase  the  organic  matter ;  and,  if  we  find 
that  the  soil  won't  furnish  enough  phosphorus,  potassium, 
magnesium,  or  calcium,  even  with  the  help  of  the  decaying 
organic  matter  to  liberate  them,  why  then  it  is  up  to  us  to 
increase  the  supply  of  those  elements." 

"  You  must  remember  that  the  calcium  will  be  supplied 
in  the  limestone,"  cautioned  Percy.  "And,  if  you  use 
magnesian  limestone,  you  will  thus  supply  both  calcium 
and  magnesium.  Keep  in  mind  that  magnesian  only  means 
that  the  limestone  contains  some  magnesium  and  that  it  is 
not  a  pure  calcium  carbonate.  The  purest  magnesian 
limestone  consists  of  a  double  carbonate  of  calcium  and 
magnesium,  called  dolomite,  CaMg(C03)2." 

"  But  I  have  heard  that  magnesian  lime  is  bad  for 
soils,"  said  Mr.  Thornton. 

'*  That  is  true,"  Percy  replied,  "  and  so  is  ordinary  lime 
bad  for  soils.  The  Germans  say :  *  Lime  makes  the  fathers 
rich  but  the  children  poor.'  The  English  saying  is : 


CLOSER  TO  MOTHER  EARTH  14$ 

'  Lime  and  lime  without  manure 
Will  make  both  farm  and  farmer  poor.5 

"  Both  of  these  national  proverbs  are  correct  for  com- 
mon, every-day  lime ;  but  you  know,  do  you  not,  that  lime- 
stone soils  are  usually  very  good  and  very  durable  soils  ?  '* 

"  That's  what  I've  always  heard,"  replied  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton. 

"  Well,  there  is  no  danger  whatever  from  using  too  much 
limestone;  and  all  the  information  thus  far  secured  shows 
that  magnesian  limestone  is  even  better  than  the  pure  cal- 
cium limestone.  I  know  two  Illinois  farmers  who  are  us- 
ing large  quantities  of  ground  magnesian  limestone,  and 
one  of  them  has  applied  as  much  as  twenty  tons  per  acre. 
On  that  land  his  corn  crop  was  good  for  eighty  bushels 
per  acre  this  year.  Of  course  that  heavy  application  was 
more  than  was  needed,  but  initial  applications  of  four  or 
five  tons  are  very  satisfactory,  and  these  should  be  followed 
by  about  two  tons  per  acre  every  four  to  six  years." 

Mr.  Thornton  took  his  guest  to  Blairville  that  evening, 
as  they  had  planned,  and  he  assured  Percy  that  should  he 
decide  to  purchase  land  in  that  section  they  would  let  him 
have  three  hundred  acres  of  their  land  at  ten  dollars  an 
acre. 

"  I  will  let  you  know  after  I  get  the  samples  analyzed 
for  you,"  said  Percy.  "  The  price  is  low  enough  and  the 
location  ideal,  but  still  I  want  to  have  the  invoice  before  I 
buy  the  goods.  I  will  write  you  about  sending  the  samples 
to  the  chemist  after  I  hear  from  some  I  sent  him  from 
Montplain." 


CHAPTER   XIX 
FROM  RICHMOND  TO  WASHINGTON 

THE  next  day  Percy  spent  a  few  hours  at  the  State 
Capitol  in  Richmond,  where  he  found  the  records  of 
the  State  of  much  interest. 

Thus  he  found  that  in  practically  every  county  there 
was  more  or  less  land  owned  by  the  commonwealth,  be- 
cause of  its  complete  abandonment  by  former  owners,  and 
the  failure  of  any  one  to  buy  when  sold  by  the  state  for 
taxes. 

Under  such  conditions  the  title  to  the  land  returns  to 
the  State,  and  after  two  years  it  may  be  sold  by  the  State 
to  any  one  desiring  to  purchase  and  the  former  owner  has 
no  further  right  of  redemption.  Some  of  these  lands 
which  are  owned  by  the  State,  and  on  which  the  State  has 
received  no  taxes  for  many  years,  are  still  occupied  by 
their  former  owners  or  by  "  squatters,"  and  may  con- 
tinue to  be  so  occupied  unless  the  land  should  be  purchased 
from  the  State  by  some  one  else  who  would  demand  full 
possession.  Such  purchasers,  however,  are  likely  to  be  un- 
popular residents  in  the  community  if  the  transaction 
forces  poor  people  from  a  place  they  have  called  home, 
even  though  they  had  no  legal  right  to  occupy  it. 

Percy  found  the  report  of  the  State  Auditor  showed 
that  the  clerk  of  the  court  of  Powhatan  county  had  re- 
turned to  the  State  $1.05  "  for  sales  of  lands  purchased 
by  the  commonwealth  at  tax  sales,"  while  from  Prince  Ed- 
ward county  the  State  received  a  similar  revenue  amount- 

144 


FROM  RICHMOND  TO  WASHINGTON     145 

ing  to  $17.39  for  the  same  year.  The  total  revenue  to 
the  commonwealth  from  this  source  amounted  to  $667.85 
for  the  year.  Contrasted  with  this  was  the  revenue  from 
"Redemption  of  Land,"  amounting  to  $27,436.38,  sug- 
gesting something  of  the  struggle  of  the  man  to  retain 
possession  of  his  home  before  it  becomes  legally  possible 
for  another  to  take  it  from  him  beyond  redemption. 

According  to  the  records  about  a  million  acres  of  land 
are  owned  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  alone. 

Percy  decided  to  go  to  Washington  to  learn  what  defi- 
nite information  he  might  obtain  from  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture.  On  the  train  for  Washing- 
ton he  found  himself  sitting  beside  a  Virginia  farmer. 

"  These  lands  remind  me  of  our  Western  prairies," 
Percy  remarked.  "  You  have  some  extensive  areas  of  level 
or  gently  undulating  uplands." 

"  They  don't  remind  me  of  the  Western  prairies,  I  can 
tell  you,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  am  a  Westerner  myself,  or 
I  was  until  eight  years  ago.  These  lands  look  all  right 
from  the  train  when  the  crops  are  all  off,  but  I  find  that 
every  patch  of  the  earth's  surface  doesn't  always  make  a 
good  farm.  Why  you  can  go  from  Danville,  Illinois,  to 
Omaha,  Nebraska,  and  stop  anywhere  in  the  darkest  night 
and  you're  mighty  near  sure  to  'light  on  a  good  farm 
where  one  acre  is  worth  ten  of  this  land  along  here." 

"  About  what  is  this  land  worth?  "  asked  Percy. 

"Well,  I  thought  six  hundred  acres  of  it  was  worth 
$5,000  about  eight  years  ago,  especially  as  the  buildings 
on  the  place  were  in  good  repair  and  couldn't  be  built  to- 
day for  less  than  $6,000 ;  but  right  now  I  think  I  paid  a 
plenty  for  my  land.  It's  just  back  a  few  miles  at  the 
station  where  I  got  on." 

"  How  far  is  that  from  Washington  ?  " 

"  About  fifteen  miles,  I  reckon,  as  the  crow  flies.     My 


146  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

boy  has  a  telescope  his  uncle  sent  him  and  we  can  see  the 
Monument  on  a  clear  day." 

"  What  monument  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"Why,  Washington's  monument.  Haven't  you  ever 
been  to  Washington?  " 

"No,  this  is  my  first  visit.  I  am  really  thinking  of 
buying  a  farm  somewhere  here  in  the  East.  I  have  been 
in  Richmond  and  learned  a  great  deal  from  the  state  re- 
ports, and  I  thought  I  might  get  more  information  from 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  Washington." 

"  Perhaps,"  said  the  man,  "  but  my  advice  is  to  keep  in 
mind  that  there  is  a  difference  between  buying  land  and 
buying  a  farm.  I've  got  land  to  sell,  by  the  way.  I 
thought  I'd  need  it  all  when  I  bought,  but  I  can  see  now 
that  I'll  not  need  more'n  half  of  it  at  the  most ;  so,  if  you 
want  two  or  three  hundred  acres  of  this  kind  of  land  right 
close  here  where  you  kind  o'  neighbor  with  the  senators  and 
other  upper  tens,  and  run  back  and  forth  from  the  City  in 
an  hour  or  so,  why  I  think  I  can  accommodate  you.  My 
name  is  Sunderland,  J.  R.  Sunderland,  and  you'll  find  me 
at  home,  'most  any  day." 

"  How  much  would  you  sell  part  of  your  land  for?  " 
inquired  Percy. 

"  Well,  I'd  kind  o*  hate  to  take  less  than  ten  dollars  an 
acre  for  it;  but  I  think  we  can  make  a  deal  all  right  if 
you  like  the  location." 


CHAPTER   XX 
A  LESSON  IN  OPTIMISM: 

ABOUT  nine  o'clock  the  day  following  Percy's  ar- 
rival in  Washington  he  sent  his  card  into  the  of- 
fice of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

**  Just  step  this  way,"  said  the  boy  on  his  return.  "  The 
Secretary  will  see  you  at  once." 

A  gentleman  who  appeared  to  be  sixty,  but  was  really 
several  years  older,  arose  from  his  desk  and  greeted  Percy 
very  kindly. 

"  I  see  you  are  from  Illinois,  Mr.  Johnston.  I  am  an 
Iowa  man  myself,  and  I  am  always  glad  to  see  any  one 
from  the  corn  belt.  Do  you  know  we  are  going  to  beat  the 
records  this  year?  It  is  wonderful  what  crops  we  grow  in 
this  country,  and  they  are  getting  better  every  year.  We 
are  growing  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  corn  crop 
of  the  globe,  right  here  in  these  United  States.  Yes,  Sir, 
and  we  are  just  beginning  to  grow  corn;  and  corn  is  only 
one  of  our  important  agricultural  products.  Do  you 
know  that  eighty-six  per  cent,  of  all  the  raw  materials 
used  in  the  manufactured  products  of  this  country  come 
from  the  farms  of  the  United  States ;  yes,  Sir,  eighty-six 
per  cent. 

"  Now,  what  can  I  do  for  you?  I  am  very  glad  you 
called,  and  I  will  be  glad  to  serve  you  in  any  way  you  de- 
sire. By  the  way,  how  is  the  corn  turning  out  in  your 
part  of  Illinois?  Bumper  crop,  I  have  no  doubt." 

"  I  think  so,"  said  Percy,  "  after  seeing  the  crops  here 
in  the  East." 

"  That's  what  I  thought,"  continued  the  Secretary. 

147 


148  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  A  bumper  crop,  the  biggest  we  ever  raised.  Oh,  they 
don't  know  how  to  raise  corn  here  in  the  East.  They  just 
grow  corn,  corn,  corn,  year  after  year;  and  that  will  get 
any  land  out  of  fix,  I  found  that  out  years  ago  in  Iowa. 
I  am  a  farmer  myself,  as  I  suppose  you  know.  I  found 
you  couldn't  grow  corn  on  the  same  land  all  the  time. 
But  just  rotate  the  crops ;  put  clover  in  the  rotation ;  and 
then  your  ground  will  make  corn  again,  as  good  as  ever." 

"  But  I  understand  that  clover  refuses  to  grow  on  most 
of  this  Eastern  land,"  said  Percy. 

"  Oh,  nonsense !  They  don't  sow  it.  I  tell  you  they 
don't  sow  it,  and  they  don't  know  how  to  raise  it.  It  takes 
a  little  manure  sometimes  to  start  it,  but  it  will  grow  all 
right  if  they  would  only  give  it  half  a  chance.  Why,  for 
years  the  Iowa  farmers  said  that  blue  grass  wouldn't  grow 
in  Iowa.  Yes,  Sir,  they  just  knew  it  wouldn't  grow  there ; 
and  then  I  showed  them  that  blue  grass  was  actually  grow- 
ing in  Iowa, —  actually  growing  along  the  roadsides  al- 
most everywhere, —  blue  grass  that  would  pasture  a  steer 
to  the  acre  —  just  came  in  of  itself  without  being  seeded. 
No,  I  tell  you  they  don't  sow  clover  down  here.  They  just 
say  it  won't  grow  and  keep  right  on  planting  corn,  corn, 
corn,  until  the  corn  crop  amounts  to  nothing,  and  then 
they  let  the  land  grow  up  in  brush." 

"  Now,  I  do  not  wish  to  take  up  more  of  your  time," 
said  Percy,  "  for  I  know  how  busy  a  man  you  must  be,  but 
I  am  thinking  of  buying  a  farm,  or  some  land,  here  in  the 
East  and  have  to  come  to  you  for  information.  We  have 
a  small  farm  in  Illinois  and  land  is  rather  too  high-priced 
there  to  think  of  buying  more;  but  I  thought,  if  I  could 
sell  at  a  good  price  and  buy  a  much  larger  farm  here  in  the 
East  with  part  of  the  money  and  still  have  enough  left  to 
build  it  up  with,  that,  with  the  high  price  of  all  kinds  of 
farm  produce  here,  we  ought  to  make  it  pay." 


A  LESSON  IN  OPTIMISM  149 

"  You  can  do  it,"  said  the  Secretary.  "  No  doubt  of  it. 
Any  land  that  ever  was  any  good  is  all  right  yet  if  you'll 
grow  clover,  and  you  can  start  that  with  a  little  manure  if 
you  need  it.  I  have  done  it  in  Iowa,  and  I  know  what  I 
am  talking  about. 

"  Now  my  Bureau  of  Soils  can  give  you  just  the  infor- 
mation you  want.  We  are  making  a  soil  survey  of  the 
United  States,  and  we  have  soil  maps  of  several  counties 
right  here  in  Maryland.  You  can  take  that  map  and  pick 
out  any  kind  of  land  you  want, —  upland  or  bottom  land, 
—  sandy  soil,  clay  soil,  loam,  silt  loam,  or  anything  you 
want." 


CHAPTER   XXI 

IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF 

HOW  this  gentleman  to  the  Bureau  of  Soils," 
said  the  Secretary  to  the  boy  who  came  as  he 
pushed  a  button. 

"  All  the  world  loves  an  optimist,"  said  Percy  to  himself 
as  he  followed  the  boy  to  another  office  where  he  met  the 
Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils,  who  kindly  furnished  him  with 
copies  of  the  soil  maps  of  several  counties,  including  two  in 
Maryland,  Prince  George,  which  adjoins  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  St.  Mary  county,  which  almost  adjoins 
Prince  George  on  the  south. 

These  maps  were  accompanied  by  extensive  reports  de- 
scribing in  some  detail  the  agricultural  history  of  the  coun- 
ties and  the  general  observations  that  had  been  made  by 
the  soil  surveyors. 

"  I  desire  to  learn  as  much  as  I  can  regarding  the  most 
common  upland  soils,"  Percy  explained ;  "  not  the  rough 
or  broken  land,  but  the  level  or  undulating  lands  which  are 
best  suited  for  cultivation.  I  am  sure  these  maps  and  re- 
ports will  be  a  very  great  help  to  me." 

"  I  think  you  will  find  just  what  you  are  looking  for," 
said  the  Chief.  "  You  can  spread  the  maps  out  on  the 
table  and  let  me  know  if  I  can  be  of  any  assistance.  You 
see  the  legend  on  the  margin  gives  you  the  name  of  every 
soil  type,  and  the  soils  are  fully  described  in  the  reports. 
One  of  the  most  common  upland  soils  in  southern  Prince 
George  county  is  the  Leonardtown  loam,  and  this  type  is 

150 


IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF         151 

also  the  most  extensive  soil  type  in  St.  Mary  county.  The 
same  type  is  found  in  Virginia  to  some  extent.  While  the 
soil  has  been  run  down  by  improper  methods  of  culture,  it 
has  a  very  good  mechanical  composition  and  is  really  an 
excellent  soil ;  but  it  needs  crop  rotation  and  more  thorough 
cultivation  to  bring  it  back  into  a  high  state  of  fertility. 
The  fanners  are  slow  to  take  up  advanced  methods  here 
in  the  East.  We  have  told  them  what  they  ought  to  do, 
but  they  keep  right  on  in  the  same  old  rut." 

For  two  hours  Percy  buried  himself  with  the  maps  and 
reports.  Finally  the  Chief  came  from  his  inner  office,  and 
finding  Percy  still  there  asked  if  he  had  found  such  infor- 
mation as  he  desired. 

"  I  find  much  of  interest  and  value,  but  I  do  not  find  any 
complete  invoice  of  the  plant  food  contained  in  these  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  soil." 

"  You  mean  an  ultimate  chemical  analysis  of  the  soil?  " 
asked  the  Chief. 

"  Yes,  a  chemical  analysis  to  ascertain  the  absolute 
amount  of  plant  food  in  the  soil.  I  think  of  it  as  an  in- 
voice ;  but  I  see  that  you  do  not  report  any  such  analyses." 

"  No,  we  do  not,"  answered  the  Chief.  "  We  have  been 
investigating  the  mechanical  composition  of  soils,  the 
chemistry  of  the  soil  solution,  and  the  adaption  of  crop  to 
soil.  We  find  that  farmers  are  not  growing  the  crops  they 
should  grow ;  namely,  the  crops  to  which  their  soils  are  best 
adapted.  For  example,  they  try  to  grow  corn  on  land  that 
is  not  adapted  to  corn." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Percy,  "  that  our  farmers  are 
always  trying  to  find  a  crop  that  is  adapted  to  their  soil. 
Down  in  '  Egypt,'  which  covers  about  one-third  of  Illinois, 
the  farmers  once  raised  so  much  corn  that  the  people  from 
the  swampy  prairie  went  down  there  to  buy  corn,  and  hence 
the  name  *  Egypt '  became  applied  to  Southern  Illinois. 


152  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

But  there  came  a  time  when  the  soil  refused  to  grow  such 
crops  of  corn;  the  farmers  then  found  that  wheat  was 
adapted  to  the  soil.  Later  the  wheat  yields  decreased  un- 
til the  crop  became  unprofitable;  and  the  farmers  sought 
for  another  crop  adapted  to  a  still  more  depleted  soil. 
Timothy  was  selected,  and  for  many  years  it  proved  a 
profitable  crop ;  but  of  late  years  timothy  likewise  has  de- 
creased in  yield  until  there  must  be  another  change;  and 
now  whole  sections  of  '  Egypt '  are  growing  red  top  as 
the  only  profitable  crop.  After  red  top,  then  what?  I 
don't  know,  but  it  looks  as  though  it  would  be  sprouts  and 
scrub  brush,  and  final  land  abandonment,  a  repetition  of 
the  history  of  these  old  lands  of  Virginia  and  Maryland." 

"  Well,  can't  they  grow  corn  after  red  top  ?  "  asked  the 
Chief. 

"  Many  of  them  try  it  many  times,"  replied  Percy,  "  and 
the  yield  is  about  twenty  bushels  per  acre,  whereas  the  vir- 
gin soil  easily  produced  sixty  to  eighty  bushels." 

"  And  they  can't  grow  wheat  as  they  once  did  ?  " 

"  No,  Sir,  wheat  after  timothy  or  wheat  after  red  top 
now  yields  from  five  to  twelve  bushels  per  acre,  while  they 
once  grew  twenty  to  thirty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre, 
year  after  year." 

"  If  they  rotate  their  crops,  they  would  probably  yield 
as  well  as  ever,"  said  the  Chief. 

"  No,  that,  too,  has  been  tried,"  replied  Percy.  "  The 
Illinois  Experiment  Station  has  practiced  a  four-year  ro- 
tation of  corn,  cowpeas,  wheat,  and  clover  on  an  experi- 
ment field  on  the  common  prairie  soil  down  in  '  Egypt,' 
and  the  average  yield  of  wheat  has  been  only  twelve  bushels 
per  acre  during  the  last  four  years ;  but,  when  the  legume 
crops  were  plowed  under  and  limestone  and  phosphorus  ap- 
plied, the  average  yield  during  the  same  four  years  was 
twenty-seven  bushels  per  acre." 


IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF         153 

"  Probably  the  increase  was  all  produced  by  the  green 
manure,"  suggested  the  Chief.  "  Organic  matter  has  a 
great  influence  on  the  control  of  the  moisture  supply." 

"  That  was  tested,"  said  Percy.  "  The  green  manure 
alone  increased  the  average  yield  to  only  fourteen  bushels, 
while  the  green  manure  and  limestone  together  raised  the 
average  wheat  yield  to  nineteen  bushels,  the  further  in- 
crease to  twenty-seven  bushels  having  been  produced  by 
the  addition  of  phosphorus." 

"  Well,  Sir,"  said  the  Chief,  "  we  have  made  both  ex- 
tensive and  intensive  investigations  concerning  the  chem- 
istry of  the  soil  solution  by  very  delicate  and  sensitive  meth- 
ods of  analysis  we  have  developed,  and  we  have  also  con- 
ducted culture  experiments  for  twenty-day  periods  with 
wheat  seedlings  in  the  water  extract  of  soils  from  all  parts 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  results  we  have  obtained 
have  changed  the  thought  of  the  world  as  to  the  cause  of 
the  infertility  of  soils." 

"  But  you  have  not  made  analyses  for  total  plant  food 
in  the  soils  or  conducted  actual  field  experiments  with  crops 
grown  to  maturity  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  No,  we  have  not  done  that,"  answered  the  Chief. 
"  Those  are  old  methods  of  investigation  which  have  been 
tried  for  many  years  and  yet  no  chemist  can  tell  in  ad- 
vance what  will  be  the  effect  of  a  given  fertilizer  upon  a 
given  crop  on  a  given  soil." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Percy,  "  but  neither  can  any  mer- 
chant tell  in  advance  just  what  effect  will  be  produced  on 
the  next  day's  business  by  the  addition  of  a  given  number 
of  a  given  kind  of  shoes  to  a  given  stock  on  his  shelves. 
There  are  many  factors  involved  in  both  cases." 

"  Yes,  you  are  right  in  that,"  said  the  Chief ;  "  we  are 
just  beginning  to  understand  the  chemistry  of  the  soil,  and 
we  hope  soon  to  have  very  complete  proof  of  the  advanced 


154  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ideas  we  already  have  concerning  the  causes  of  the  fertil- 
ity and  infertility  of  soils." 

"  Referring  to  the  specific  case  of  the  Leonardtown  loam 
of  Maryland,"  said  Percy,  "  I  find  the  following  statement 
on  page  33  of  the  Report  of  the  Field  Operations  of  the 
Bureau  of  Soils  for  1900.  After  describing  the  Norfolk 
loam  of  St.  Mary  County,  the  writer  says : 

"  *  The  Leonardtown  loam  is  a  very  much  heavier  type 
of  soil.  It  covers  about  forty-one  per  cent,  of  St.  Mary 
County.  The  soil  is  a  yellow  silty  soil,  resembling  loess  in 
texture,  underlaid  by  a  clay  subsoil  with  layers  or  pockets 
of  sand.  The  soil  has  been  cultivated  for  upward  of  two 
hundred  years,  but  it  is  now  little  valued  and  is  covered  with 
oak  and  pine  over  much  of  its  area.  It  is  worth  from  $1 
to  $3  per  acre.  The  cultivated  areas  produce  small  crops 
of  corn,  wheat,  and  an  inferior  grade  of  tobacco.'  " 

"  The  generally  low  estimation  in  which  this  land  is  held 
is  probably  wholly  unjustified,"  replied  the  Chief.  "  There 
are  two  or  three  farms  in  the  area  which,  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation  with  intelligent  methods,  will  produce 
from  twenty  to  thirty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  and  cor- 
responding crops  of  corn.  Those  farmers  are  a  credit  to 
the  country.  They  furnish  the  towns  with  good  milk  and 
butter  and  vegetables,  and  also  help  to  keep  the  towns  clean 
and  sanitary  by  hauling  out  the  animal  excrements,  and 
other  waste  and  garbage  that  tend  to  pollute  the  air  and 
water  of  the  village." 

"  I  can  see  how  that  might  maintain  the  fertility  of  those 
farms,"  said  Percy.  "  It  seems  that  the  general  condition 
of  this  kind  of  land  is  about  the  same  in  Prince  George 
County.  On  page  45  of  the  1901  Report  of  the  Field 
Operations  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils,  I  have  noted  the  follow- 
ing statement : 

** '  The  Leonardtown  loam,  covering  45,770  acres  of  the 


IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF         155 

area,  is  the  nearest  approach  among  the  Maryland  Coastal 
Plain  Soils  to  the  heavy  clays  of  the  limestone  regions  of 
Western  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  The  surface  is 
generally  level  and  the  drainage  fair.  The  soil  is  not 
adapted  to  tobacco,  and  has  consequently  been  allowed  to 
grow  up  to  scrub  forest,  so  that  large  portions  of  it  are  at 
present  uncleared.  Such  unimproved  lands  can  be  bought 
for  $1.50  to  $5.00  an  acre,  even  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
District  line.  The  soil  has  been  badly  neglected,  and  when 
cultivated  the  methods  have  not  been  such  as  to  promote 
fertility.  When  properly  handled,  as  it  is  in  a  few  places, 
good  yields  of  wheat,  corn  and  grass  are  obtained.' " 

"  That's  right,"  said  the  Chief,  "  exactly  right.  Upon 
the  whole  it  is  one  of  the  most  promising  soils  of  the  local- 
ity, although  it  is  not  considered  so  by  the  resident  farm- 
ers." 

"  You  mean  that  it  should  be  handled  the  same  as  is 
done  by  the  successful  farmers  of  St.  Mary  County?  "  in- 
quired Percy. 

"  Yes,  it  needs  thorough  cultivation  and  the  rotation  of 
crops;  and  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil  needs  to  be 
improved  by  the  addition  of  lime  and  manure,  or  green 
crops  turned  under." 

"  I  have  been  looking  over  some  of  the  other  Reports  of 
Field  Operations,"  said  Percy.  "  I  became  interested  in 
the  description  of  a  Virginia  soil  called  Porter's  black 
loam.  I  find  the  following  statement  on  page  210  of  the 
Report  for  1902: 

"  *  The  Porter's  black  loam  occurs  in  all  the  soil  survey 
sheets,  extending  along  the  top  of  the  main  portion  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains  in  one  continuous  area.  This  type 
consists  of  the  broad  rolling  tops  and  the  upper  slopes  of 
the  main  range  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  Locally  the 
Porter's  black  loam  is  called  '  black  land '  and  '  pippin ' 


156  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

land,  the  latter  term  being  applied  because,  of  all  the  soils 
of  the  area,  it  is  pre-eminently  adapted  to  the  Newtown  and 
Albemarle  Pippin.  This  black  land  has  long  been  recog- 
nized as  the  most  fertile  of  the  mountain  soils.  It  can  be 
worked  year  after  year  without  apparent  impairment  of  its 
fertility.  Wheat  winter-kills,  the  loose  soils  heaving  badly 
under  influence  of  frost.  The  areas  lie  at  too  high  ele- 
vations for  corn.  Oats  do  well,  making  large  yields. 
Irish  potatoes,  even  under  ordinary  culture,  will  yield  from 
two  hundred  to  three  hundred  bushels  per  acre.  It  seeds 
in  blue  grass  naturally,  which  affords  excellent  pasturage. 
Clover  and  other  grasses  will  also  grow  luxuriantly  upon 
it.  The  areas  occupied  by  this  soil  are  mostly  cleared.' " 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  said  the  Chief,  "  the  Porter's  black  loam  is 
a  fine  soil  —  loose  and  porous  as  stated  in  the  Report. 
You  see  it  has  a  good  physical  condition." 

"  There  is  one  other  description  in  this  Report  for  1903 
that  is  of  special  interest  to  me,"  said  Percy.  "  This  re- 
lates to  a  type  of  soil  which  the  surveyors  found  in  the  low 
level  areas  of  prairie  land  in  McLean  County,  Illinois,  and 
which  they  have  called  Miami  black  clay  loam.  I  think  we 
have  several  acres  of  the  same  kind  of  soil  on  our  own  little 
farm.  I  found  the  following  statements  on  page  787 : 

"  *  When  the  first  settlers  came  to  McLean  County  they 
found  the  areas  occupied  by  the  Miami  black  clay  loam  wet 
and  swampy,  and  before  these  areas  could  be  brought 
under  cultivation  it  was  necessary  to  remove  the  excess  of 
moisture.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  large  ditches  for 
outlets,  tile  drains  have  taken  the  place  of  open  ditches. 
Drainage  systems  in  some  instances  have  cost  as  much  as 
$25  an  acre,  but  the  very  productive  character  of  the  soil, 
and  the  increase  in  the  yields  fully  justify  the  expense. 
There  are  few  soils  more  productive  than  the  Miami  black 
clay  loam.  Some  areas  have  been  cropped  almost  con- 


IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF          157 

tinuously  in  corn  for  nearly  fifty  years  without  much 
diminution  in  the  yields.5  " 

"  Now  there  you  are  again,"  said  the  Chief.  "  Drain- 
age, that's  all  it  needed.  You  see  it's  a  simple  matter; 
and  that's  what  the  Leonardtown  loam  needs  in  places. 
Give  it  good  drainage  and  good  cultivation  with  a  rotation 
of  crops,  and  you'll  get  results  all  right." 

"  Has  the  Bureau  of  Soils  tried  these  methods  on  any 
of  this  soil  near  Washington  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  No  use,"  replied  the  Chief.  "  We've  got  the  scientific 
facts ;  and  besides,  as  I  told  you,  some  few  farms  are  kept 
up  in  both  Prince  George  and  St.  Mary  counties,  and  they 
are  as  good  demonstrations  as  anyone  could  want.  Now 
I  suggest  that  you  meet  some  of  our  scientists." 


CHAPTER   XXII 

THE  CHEMIST'S  LABOEATOEY 

THE  Chief  showed  Percy  into  the  laboratories  of  the 
Bureau  and  introduced  him  to  the  soil  physicist  and 
the  soil  chemist.  Percy  was  greatly  interested  in 
the  various  lines  of  work  in  progress  and  gladly  accepted 
an  invitation  to  return  after  lunch  and  become  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  methods  of  investigation  used. 

In  the  afternoon  the  physicist  showed  him  how  the  soil 
water  could  be  removed  from  an  ordinary  moist  soil  by 
centrifugal  force,  and  the  chemist  was  growing  wheat  seed- 
lings in  small  quantities  of  this  water  and  in  water  extracts 
contained  in  bottles.  The  seedlings  were  allowed  to  grow 
for  twenty  days  and  then  other  seedlings  were  started  in 
the  same  solution  and  also  in  fresh  solution,  and  it  was 
very  apparent  that  in  some  cases  the  wheat  grew  better  in 
the  fresh  solutions. 

The  chemist  explained  that  he  also  analyzed  the  soil 
solutions  and  water  extracts  from  different  soils  and  that 
there  was  no  relation  between  the  crop  yields  and  the  chemi- 
cal composition  of  the  soils. 

"  But  it  seems  to  me,*'  said  Percy,  "  that  your  analysis 
refers  to  the  plant  food  dissolved  in  the  soil  water  only  at 
the  time  when  you  extract  it.  How  long  a  time  does  it 
require  to  make  the  extraction  ?  " 

"  As  a  rule  we  shake  the  soil  with  water  for  three  minutes 
and  then  it  takes  twenty  minutes  to  separate  the  water 
from  the  soil.  This  gives  us  the  plant  food  in  solution  and 
with  the  addition  of  more  water  the  nitrates,  phosphoric 

158 


THE  CHEMIST'S  LABORATORY          159 

acid,  and  potash  in  the  soil  immediately  dissolve  sufficiently 
to  give  us  a  nutrient  solution  of  the  same  concentration  as 
we  had  before.  Thus  there  is  always  sufficient  plant  food 
in  the  soil  so  long  as  there  is  any  of  the  original  stock." 

"  That  is  surely  quick  work,"  said  Percy,  "  but  I  wonder 
if  the  corn  plant  might  not  get  somewhat  different  results 
from  the  soil  analysis  which  it  makes." 

"  How  do  you  mean?  " 

"  Did  you  ever  plant  a  field  of  corn  and  then  cultivate 
it  and  watch  it  grow  with  increasing  rapidity,  until  along 
about  the  Fourth  of  July  every  leaf  seemed  to  nod  its  ap- 
preciation and  thanks  as  you  stirred  the  soil ;  and  to  show 
its  gratitude,  too,  by  growing  about  five  inches  every 
twenty-four  hours  when  the  nights  were  warm  ?  " 

"  No,"  replied  the  Chemist,  "  I  have  never  had  any  ex- 
perience of  that  sort.  I  am  devoting  my  life  to  the  more 
scientific  investigations  relating  to  the  fundamental  laws 
which  underlie  these  soil  fertility  problems." 

"  Well,  I  was  only  thinking,"  Percy  continued,  "  that 
you  analyze  a  fraction  of  a  pound  of  soil  in  a  few  minutes, 
while  the  corn  plant  analyzes  about  a  ton  of  soil  by  a  sort 
of  continuous  process,  which  covers  twenty-four  hours 
every  day  for  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  days,  and  it 
takes  into  account  every  change  in  temperature  and  moist- 
ure, the  aeration  with  any  variation  produced  by  culti- 
vation, and  also  the  changes  brought  about  by  the  nitrify- 
ing bacteria  and  all  other  agencies  that  promote  the  de- 
composition of  the  soil  and  the  liberation  of  plant  food, 
including  the  action  upon  the  insoluble  phosphates  (and 
other  minerals)  of  the  carbonic  acid  exhaled  by  the  roots  of 
the  corn  plants,  the  nitric  acid  produced  by  the  process  of 
nitrification,  and  the  various  acids  resulting  from  the  de- 
cay of  organic  matter  contained  in  the  soil." 

"  I  am  very  familiar  with  the  literature  of  the  whole 


160  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

subject  of  soil  fertility,"  replied  the  chemist,  "  and  our 
theories  are  being  accepted  everywhere.  I  have  just  re- 
turned from  a  lecture  tour  extending  from  Florida  to 
Michigan,  and  our  ideas  and  methods  are  being  very  gen- 
erally adopted,  not  only  in  this  country  but  also  in 
Europe." 

"  The  Chief  of  the  Bureau  very  kindly  permitted  me  to 
look  over  the  maps  and  reports  relating  to  the  soils  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia,"  said  Percy,  "  but  in  this  liter- 
ature I  found  no  data  as  to  the  amount  of  plant  food  con- 
tained in  the  various  soil  types  that  have  been  found  in  the 
surveys.  May  I  ask  if  the  Bureau  has  made  any  analyses 
to  ascertain  the  total  amounts  of  the  different  essential 
plant-food  elements  contained  in  these  different  soils?  " 

"  No,"  the  Chemist  replied,  "  a  chemical  analysis  gives 
practically  no  information  concerning  the  fertility  of  the 
soil.  We  have  made  no  ultimate  analyses  of  soils,  al- 
though we  have  used  the  same  methods  of  analysis  in  a 
study  of  the  partial  composition  of  the  soil  separates,  or 
particles  of  different  grades,  such  as  the  sand,  the  silt,  and 
the  clay." 

"  And  have  you  also  determined  the  percentages  of  sand, 
silt,  and  clay  in  the  soils  themselves  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  the  physical  composition  of  the  soil  is  a  matter 
of  very  great  importance,  and  this  is  always  determined 
and  reported  for  every  soil.  Did  you  not  see  that  in  the 
Reports  you  examined  this  morning?  " 

"  I  think  I  did  notice  it,"  Percy  replied,  "  but  it  is  so 
easy  for  the  farmer  himself  to  tell  a  sandy  soil  from  a  clay 
soil  that  I  did  not  appreciate  the  value  of  those  physical 
analyses. 

"  In  any  case,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  know  what  results 
were  obtained  from  the  chemical  analysis  of  the  soil  sep- 
arates to  which  you  referred." 


THE  CHEMIST'S  LABORATORY  161 

"  Those  results  are  all  reported  in  Bulletin  No.  54  of 
the  Bureau  of  Soils,"  said  the  Chemist,  "  and  I  have  extra 
copies  right  here  and  will  be  glad  to  present  you  with  one. 
And  let  me  give  you  our  Bulletin  No.  22,  also.  This  will 
enable  you  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  principles  we  are  de- 
veloping which  are  solving  the  soil  fertility  problems  that 
have  completely  baffled  the  scientists  heretofore." 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

MATHEMATICS  APPLIED  TO  FARMING 

PERCY  left  the  Bureau  of  Soils  with  a  feeing  of  deep 
appreciation  for  the  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness 
that  had  been  accorded  him,  but  with  a  firm  convic- 
tion that  the  laboratory  scientists  were  too  far  removed 
from  the  actual  conditions  existing  in  the  cultivated  field. 
He  sought  the  quiet  of  his  room  at  the  hotel  in  order  to 
study  the  bulletins  he  had  received. 

Even  with  his  college  training  he  found  it  difficult  to 
form  clear  mental  conceptions  of  the  results  of  investi- 
gations reported  in  the  bulletins.  Sometimes  the  data 
were  reported  in  percentages  and  sometimes  in  parts  per 
million.  No  reports  gave  the  amounts  of  the  element 
phosphorus;  but  P04  was  given  in  some  places  and  P2O5 
in  others.  In  Bulletin  No.  22,  the  potassium  and  calcium 
were  reported  as  the  elements  and  the  nitrogen  in  terms  of 
NO3,  while  potash  (K2O),  quicklime  (CaO),  and  magnesia 
(MgO)  were  reported  in  Bulletin  No.  54. 

By  a  somewhat  complicated  mathematical  process,  he 
finally  succeeded  in  making  computations  from  the  per- 
centages of  the  various  compounds  reported  in  the  soil 
separates  and  from  the  percentages  of  these  different 
separates  contained  in  the  soils  themselves  and  from  the 
known  weights  of  normal  soils,  until  he  reduced  the  data 
to  amounts  per  acre  of  plowed  soil. 

He  was  especially  pleased  to  find  that  the  essential  data 
were  at  hand  not  only  for  both  the  Leonardtown  loam  and 
the  Porter's  black  loam,  but  also  for  the  Norfolk  loam, 

162 


MATHEMATICS  APPLIED  TO  FARMING       163 

which  he  had  learned  from  one  of  the  soil  maps  was  the 
principal  type  of  soil  southw'est  of  Blairville  on  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton's farm ;  and,  furthermore,  the  Miami  black  clay  loam  of 
Illinois  was  included.  Percy  knew  the  black  clay  loam  was 
a  rich  soil,  for  the  teacher  in  college  had  said  that  the 
more  common  prairie  land  and  most  timber  lands  were 
much  less  durable  and  needed  thorough  investigation  at 
once,  while  the  flat,  recently  drained,  heavy  black  land  could 
wait  a  few  years  if  necessary. 

Percy  first  worked  out  the  data  for  the  Miami  black 
clay  loam.  The  chemist  had  analyzed  the  soil  separates 
for  only  four  constituents,  and  they  showed  the  following 
amounts  per  acre  of  plowed  soil  to  a  depth  of  six  and  two- 
thirds  inches,  averaging  two  million  pounds  in  weight: 

2,970  pounds  of  phosphorus 
38,500  pounds  of  potassium 
18,440  pounds  of  magnesium 
46,200  pounds  of  calcium 

He  then  made  the  computations  for  the  average  of  the 
Leonardtown  loam  of  St.  Mary  County,  Maryland,  with 
results  as  follows: 

160  pounds  of  phosphorus 
18,500  pounds  of  potassium 
3,480  pounds  of  magnesium 
1,000  pounds  of  calcium 

Percy  stared  at  these  figures  when  he  brought  them  to- 
gether for  comparison.  He  then  checked  up  his  compu- 
tations to  be  sure  they  were  right. 

"  Almost  twenty  times  as  much  phosphorus ! "  he  said 
to  himself.  "Is  it  possible?  And  more  than  forty  times 
as  much  calcium!  Let  me  see!  It  takes  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  pounds  of  calcium  for  four  tons  of  clover  hay. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

The  total  amount  in  the  plowed  soil  of  the  Leonardtown 
loam  would  not  be  sufficient  for  eight  such  crops ;  and  six 
crops  of  corn  such  as  we  raised  one  year  on  our  sixteen 
acres  would  take  more  phosphorus  from  the  land  than  is 
now  left  in  the  plowed  soil  of  this  Leonardtown  loam. 
The  magnesium  is  not  quite  so  bad  —  about  one-fifth  as 
much  as  in  our  black  soil,  and  the  potassium  is  almost  one- 
half  as  much  as  we  have." 

Percy  next  turned  to  the  Porter's  black  loam,  which  he 
had  noticed  was  to  be  found  not  many  miles  from  Mont- 
plain.  He  thought  he  might  induce  Mr.  West  to  drive 
with  him  to  the  upper  mountain  slope  in  order  that  they 
might  see  that  land.  His  computations  for  the  Porter's 
black  loam  gave  the  following  results: 

4,630  pounds  of  phosphorus 
48,300  pounds  of  potassium 
12,360  pounds  of  magnesium 
23,700  pounds  of  calcium 

He  viewed  these  figures  a  moment  with  evident  satis- 
faction. 

"  Plenty  of  everything  in  this  wonderful  *  pippin  land,'  " 
he  thought ;  "  big  yields  reported  for  everything  suited 
to  that  altitude.  *  Can  be  worked  year  after  year  with- 
out apparent  impairment  of  its  fertility,'  so  the  Report 
stated.  I  should  think  it  might,  especially  since  clover  is 
one  of  the  crops  grown.  Both  phosphorus  and  potassium 
are  way  above  our  best  black  land;  magnesium  two- 
thirds  and  calcium  one-half  of  our  flat  land,  but  still 
greater  than  our  common  prairie,  according  to  the  aver- 
age they  gave  us  at  college.  And  no  doubt  there  is  plenty 
of  magnesian  limestone  in  these  mountains  which  could  be 
had  if  ever  needed.  The  soil  surveyor  certainly  did  not 


MATHEMATICS  APPLIED  TO  FARMING       165 

say  too  much  in  praise  of  the  Porter's  black  loam,  consider- 
ing that  its  physical  composition  is  also  all  right." 

He  worked  out  the  Norfolk  loam  to  see  what  he  would 
get  if  he  accepted  Miss  Russell's  dare.  The  following  are 
the  figures : 

610  pounds  of  phosphorus 
13,200  pounds  of  potassium 
1,200  pounds  of  magnesium 
3,430  pounds  of  calcium 

"  Rather  low  in  everything,"  said  Percy,  "  compared 
with  any  soil  I  know  that  has  a  good  reputation.  More 
uniformly  poor  but  not  so  extremely  poor  as  the  Leonard- 
town  loam." 

He  wished  that  the  nitrogen  had  been  determined  by  the 
chemist,  even  though  he  knew  the  organic  matter  and  the 
nitrogen  must  be  very  low  in  the  poor  soils,  but  nowhere 
was  any  such  record  to  be  found  in  the  bulletin.  He  found 
the  statement,  however,  that  all  data  were  reported  on  the 
basis  of  ignited  soil. 

"  That  will  reduce  some  of  these  amounts  about  one- 
tenth,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  In  our  physics  work  in  col- 
lege, good  soils  generally  lost  about  ten  per  cent,  in  weight 
by  ignition,  even  after  all  hygroscopic  moisture  had  been 
expelled ;  but  these  very  poor  soils  haven't  much  to  lose,  I 
guess.  They  surely  contain  no  carbonates  and  very  little 
organic  matter,  although  they  may  contain  some  com- 
bined water  in  acid  silicates." 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL 

PERCY  spent  three  days  in  Washington. 
"  If  I  lived  here  long,"  he  wrote  his  mother,  "  I 
think  I  should  become  as  optimistic  as  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  even  though  the  total  produce  of  the 
original  thirteen  states  should  supply  a  still  smaller  frac- 
tion of  the  necessities  of  life  required  by  their  population. 
The  Congressional  Library  is  by  far  the  finest  structure 
I  have  ever  seen.  I  cannot  help  feeling  proud  that  I  am 
an  American  when  I  walk  through  its  halls  and  look  upon 
the  portraits  of  the  great  men  who  helped  to  make  our 
country  truly  great. 

"  As  I  shook  hands  with  the  President  of  the  United 
States  at  one  of  his  public  receptions  held  in  the  '  East 
Room '  of  the  White  House,  I  wondered  if  there  was  an- 
other country  on  the  earth  where  the  humblest  subject 
could  thus  come  face  to  face  with  the  head  of  a  mighty 
nation.  In  the  Treasury  Building  I  was  permitted  to 
join  a  small  party  of  some  distinction  and  shared  with 
each  of  them  the  privilege  of  holding  in  my  hands  for  a 
moment  eight  million  dollars  in  government  bonds. 

"  I  have  visited  many  of  the  great  buildings,  the  Capitol, 
of  course,  and  Washington's  monument,  which  rises  to  a 
height  of  555  feet  above  the  surrounding  land,  or  practi- 
cally 600  feet  above  low-water  level  in  the  Potomac. 
There  are  many  smaller  monuments  erected  in  honor  of 
American  heroes  in  various  squares,  circles,  and  parks 
throughout  the  City. 

166 


THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL  167 

"  The  zoological  garden  took  a  full  half-day,  and  I 
could  have  spent  a  much  longer  time  there.  They  told 
me  of  a  frightful  occurrence  that  happened  only  last  week. 
In  a  pool  of  water  a  very  large  alligator  is  kept  confined 
by  a  low  stout  iron  fence.  A  negro  woman  was  leaning 
over  the  fence  holding  her  baby  in  her  arms  and  looking 
at  the  monster,  who  seemed  to  be  asleep ;  when,  without  a 
moment's  warning,  he  thrust  himself  half  out  of  the  water 
and  snapped  the  baby  from  her  arms,  swallowing  it  at  one 
gulp  as  he  settled  back  into  the  water.  I  fear  the  report 
is  true  enough,  for  they  have  made  the  fence  higher  in  a 
very  temporary  manner,  and  I  heard  it  mentioned  by  a 
dozen  or  more. 

"  I  leave  Washington  by  boat  at  five  o'clock  this  after- 
noon, and  I  expect  to  land  at  Leonardtown,  St.  Mary 
county,  Maryland,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when 
the  boat  will  be  ready  to  leave  that  port.  It  is  a  freight 
boat  and  stops  for  hours  at  large  towns. 

"I  am  planning  for  a  trip  into  New  England  next 
week.  I  did  not  realize  how  easy  it  is  to  go  there  until  I 
looked  up  the  train  service.  In  less  than  twelve  hours' 
time,  one  can  make  the  trip  from  the  Virginia  line,  through 
the  District  of  Columbia,  Maryland,  Delaware,  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  Jersey,  New  York,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island, 
and  into  Massachusetts, —  ten  different  states,  including 
the  District.  The  trip  from  Galena  to  Cairo  can  hardly 
be  made  in  so  short  a  time,  not  even  on  the  limited  Illinois 
Central  trains." 

An  hour  before  leaving  the  Washington  hotel  Percy 
chanced  to  meet  a  Congressman  whom  he  had  seen  on  sev- 
eral occasions  at  the  University  and  who  had  spoken  at 
the  alumni  banquet  at  the  time  of  Percy's  graduation. 

"  I'm  very  glad  you  introduced  yourself,  Mr.  John- 
ston," said  he.  "  Want  to  get  a  place  down  here,  do  you? 


168  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

Very  likely  I  can  help  you  some.  I've  helped  several 
friends  of  mine  to  get  good  places.  What  are  you  after?  " 

"  I  am  thinking  of  getting  a  place  of  about  three  hun- 
dred acres,"  said  Percy,  "  and  I  shall  certainly  appreciate 
any  assistance  or  information  you  can  give  me." 

"  Whe-e-ew !  What  are  you  up  to  ?  Want  to  sell  us  a 
site  for  the  new  Government  insane  hospital,  or  going  to 
lay  out  another  addition  to  the  city?  " 

"  Neither,"  replied  Percy.  "  I  am  looking  for  a  piece 
of  cheap  land  that  I  can  build  up  and  make  into  a  good 
farm." 

"Oh,  ho!"  said  the  Congressman.  "That's  it,  is  it? 
Well,  now  let  me  tell  you  that  you've  struck  the  wrong 
neck  of  the  woods  to  find  land  that  you  can  make  a  good 
farm  out  of.  The  land  about  here  is  cheap  enough  all 
right  —  cheaper  than  the  votes  of  some  politicians,  but  it 
can't  be  built  up  into  good  farms.  Don't  attempt  the  im- 
possible, my  friend.  If  you  want  cheap  land  for  town 
sites  or  insane  hospitals,  right  here's  the  country  to  land 
in ;  but  if  you  want  a  good  farm,  you  stay  right  in  Illi- 
nois, or  else  follow  Horace  Greeley's  advice  and  '  go  West.' 
That's  a  good  suggestion  for  you,  too.  Just  go  West 
and  get  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  the  richest  soil 
out  of  doors." 

"  There  is  not  much  land  left  in  the  West  where  the 
rainfall  is  sufficient  for  good  crops,"  said  Percy. 

"  Then  take  irrigated  land.  The  Government  is  get- 
ting under  way  some  big  irrigation  projects,  and  you 
ought  to  get  in  on  the  ground  floor  on  one  of  those  tracts. 
It  is  a  fact  that  the  apples  from  some  of  those  irrigated 
farms  sometimes  bring  more  than  $500  an  acre." 

"  I  don't  doubt  that,"  said  Percy.  "  An  illustration 
or  example  can  usually  be  found  to  prove  almost  anything. 
I  know  that  the  Perrine  Brothers,  who  conduct  a  fruit 


THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL  169 

farm  down  in  *  Egypt,'  actually  received  $800  per  acre 
for  the  apples  grown  on  thirteen  acres  one  year;  and 
there  is  plenty  of  such  land  in  Egypt  that  can  be  bought 
for  less  than  $40  an  acre,  and  near  to  the  great  markets. 
I  am  told,  however,  that  there  are  from  a  dozen  to  a  hun- 
dred applicants  for  every  farm  opened  to  settlement  in  the 
West  in  these  years,  and  it  is  estimated  that  all  of  the  arid 
lands  that  can  ever  be  put  under  irrigation  in  the  United 
States  will  provide  homes  for  no  more  than  our  regular  in- 
crease in  population  in  five  years,  and  that  the  only  other 
remaining  rich  lands  —  the  swamp  areas  —  will  be  occu- 
pied by  the  increase  of  ten  years  in  our  population.  It 
has  seemed  to  me  that  it  is  high  time  we  come  back  to  these 
partially  worn-out  Eastern  lands  and  begin  to  build  them 
up.  Here  the  rainfall  is  abundant,  the  climate  is  fine,  and 
the  markets  are  the  best,  and  there  are  millions  of  acres  of 
these  Eastern  lands  that  lie  as  nicely  for  farming  as  the 
Western  prairies.  Why  should  they  not  be  built  up  into 
good  farms  ?  " 

"  Now,  let  me  give  you  a  little  fatherly  advice,"  said  the 
Congressman,  laying  his  hand  on  Percy's  shoulder.  "  I 
tell  you  this  land  never  was  any  good.  If  the  East  and 
South  hadn't  been  settled  first,  they  never  would  have 
been  settled.  Poor  land  remains  poor  land,  and  good  land 
remains  good  land;  and,  if  you  want  to  farm  good  land, 
you  better  stay  right  in  the  corn  belt.  You  can't  grow 
anything  on  these  Eastern  lands  without  fertilizer  and  the 
more  you  fertilize  the  more  you  must,  and  still  the  land 
remains  as  poor  as  ever.  Just  leave  off  the  fertilizer  one 
year  and  your  crop  is  not  worth  harvesting.  These  lands 
never  were  any  good  and  they  never  will  be." 

"  But  that  is  hardly  in  accord  with  what  the  people  now 
living  on  these  old  Eastern  farms  report  for  the  conditions 
of  agriculture  in  the  times  of  their  ancestors." 


170  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  people  are  always  talking  about  their 
ancestors,  and  especially  Virginians ;  but,  Cassar !  I  won- 
der what  their  ancestors  would  think  of  them !  You  can't 
afford  to  take  any  stock  in  the  ancestry  of  these  old  Vir- 
ginians." 

"  I  call  to  mind  that  the  historical  records  give  much 
information  along  this  line,"  said  Percy.  "  It  is  recorded 
that  mills  for  grinding  corn  and  wheat  were  common,  that 
the  flour  of  Mount  Vernon  was  packed  under  the  eye  of 
Washington,  and  we  are  told  that  barrels  of  flour  bearing 
his  brand  passed  in  the  export  markets  without  inspection. 
History  records  that  the  plantations  of  Virginia  usually 
passed  from  father  to  son,  according  to  the  law  of  entail, 
and  that  the  heads  of  families  lived  like  lords,  keeping 
their  stables  of  blooded  horses  and  rolling  to  church  or 
town  in  their  coach  and  six,  with  outriders  on  horseback. 
Their  spacious  mansions  were  sometimes  built  of  imported 
brick;  and,  within,  the  grand  staircases,  the  mantels,  and 
the  wainscot  reaching  from  floor  to  ceiling,  were  of  solid 
mahogany,  elaborately  carved  and  paneled.  The  side- 
boards shone  with  silver  plate,  and  the  tables  were  loaded 
with  the  luxuries  from  both  the  New  and  the  Old  World ; 
and  plenty  of  these  old  mansions  still  exist  in  dilapidated 
condition." 

"  That  all  sounds  good  for  history,"  said  the  Congress- 
man, "  but  the  historian  probably  got  his  information  from 
some  of  these  old  Virginians  whose  only  religion  is  ances- 
tral worship.  If  the  lands  were  ever  any  good  they'd  be 
good  now.  Good  lands  stay  good.  As  an  Illinois  man, 
you  ought  to  know  that.  My  father  settled  in  Illinois 
and  I  tell  you  his  land  is  better  to-day  than  it  was  the 
day  he  took  it  from  the  Government." 

"  My  grandfather  also  took  land  from  the  Government," 
said  Percy,  "  but  the  land  that  he  first  put  under  cultiva- 


THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL  171 

tion  is  not  producing  as  good  crops  now  as  it  used  to,  even 
though  — " 

"  Then  it  must  be  you  don't  farm  it  right.  Of  course 
you  don't  want  to  corn  your  land  to  death.  I  lived  on 
the  farm  long  enough  to  learn  that;  but  if  you'll  only 
grow  two  or  three  crops  of  corn  and  then  change  to  a 
crop  of  oats,  you'll  find  your  land  ready  for  corn  again ; 
and,  if  you'll  sow  clover  with  the  oats  and  plow  the  clover 
under  the  next  spring,  you'll  find  the  land  will  grow  more 
corn  than  ever  your  grandfather  grew  on  it.  " 

"  But  how  can  we  maintain  the  supply  of  plant  food  in 
the  soil  by  merely  substituting  oats  for  corn  once  in  three 
or  four  years  and  turning  under  perhaps  a  ton  of  clover  as 
green  manure.  That  amount  of  clover  would  contain  no 
more  nitrogen  than  40  bushels  of  corn  would  remove  from 
the  soil,  and  of  course  the  clover  has  no  power  to  add  any 
phosphorus  or  other  mineral  elements.  " 

"  Oh,  yes.  I've  heard  all  about  that  sort  of  talk.  You 
know  I'm  a  U.  of  I.  man  myself.  I  studied  chemistry 
in  the  University  under  a  man  who  knew  more  in  a  minute 
than  all  the  *  tommy  rot '  you've  been  filled  up  with.  I 
also  lived  on  an  Illinois  farm,  and  I  speak  from  practical 
experience.  I  know  what  I  am  talking  about,  and  I  don't 
care  a  rap  for  all  the  theories  that  can  be  stacked  up  by 
your  modern  college  professor,  who  wouldn't  know  a 
pumpkin  if  he  met  one  rolling  down  hill.  I  tell  you  God 
Almighty  never  made  the  black  corn-belt  land  to  be  worn 
out,  and  he  doesn't  create  people  on  this  earth  to  let  'em 
starve  to  death.  Don't  you  understand  that?" 

"  I  am  afraid  that  I  do  not,"  replied  Percy.  "  I  have 
received  no  such  direct  communication ;  but  I  saw  a  letter 
written  from  China  by  a  missionary  describing  the  famine- 
stricken  districts  in  which  he  was  located.  He  wrote  the 
letter  in  February  and  said  that  at  that  time  the  only 


172  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

practical  thing  to  do  in  that  district  was  to  let  four  hun- 
dred thousand  people  starve  and  try  to  get  seed  grain  for 
the  remainder  to  plant  the  spring  crops.  I  have  a  '  Hand- 
book of  Indian  Agriculture  '  written  by  a  professor  of 
agriculture  and  agricultural  chemistry  at  one  of  the  col- 
leges in  India.  I  got  it  from  one  of  the  Hindu  students 
who  attended  the  University  when  I  was  there.  This  book 
states  that  famine,  local  or  general,  has  been  the  order  of 
the  day  in  India,  and  particularly  within  recent  years.  It 
also  states  that  in  one  of  the  worst  famines  in  India  ten 
million  people  died  of  starvation  within  nine  months.  The 
average  wage  of  the  laboring  man  in  India,  according  to 
the  governmental  statistics,  is  fifty  cents  a  month,  and 
in  famine  years  the  price  of  wheat  has  risen  to  as  high 
as  $3.60  a  bushel.  This  writer  states  that  the  most  recent 
of  all  famines ;  namely,  that  prevailing  in  most  parts  of 
India  from  1897  to  1900,  was  severer  than  the  famine  of 
1874  to  1878.  No,  Sir  ,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  understand 
just  what  God's  intentions  are  concerning  the  corn  belt, 
but  it  is  recorded  that  the  Lord  helps  him  who  helps  him- 
self, and  that  man  should  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
his  brow.  If  God  made  the  common  soil  in  America  with 
a  limited  amount  of  phosphorus  in  it,  he  also  stored  great 
deposits  of  natural  rock  phosphate  in  the  mines  of  several 
states,  and  perhaps  intended  that  man  should  earn  his 
bread  by  grinding  that  rock  and  applying  it  to  the  soil. 
Possibly  the  Almighty  intended —  " 

"  Now,  I'm  very  sorry,  Mr,  Johnston,  but  I  have  an 
engagement  which  I  must  keep,  and  you'll  have  to  excuse 
me  just  now.  I'm  mighty  glad  to  have  met  you  and  I'd 
like  to  talk  with  you  for  an  hour  more  along  this  line ;  but 
you  take  my  advice  and  stick  to  the  corn-belt  land.  Above 
all,  don't  begin  to  use  phosphates  or  any  sort  of  commer- 
cial fertilizer ;  they'll  ruin  any  land  in  a  few  years ;  that's 


THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL  178 

my  opinion.  But  then,  every  man  has  a  right  to  his  own 
opinion,  and  perhaps  you  have  a  different  notion,  eh?  " 

"  I  think  no  man  has  a  right  to  an  opinion  which  is  con- 
trary to  fact,"  Percy  replied.  "  This  whole  question  is 
one  of  facts  and  not  of  opinions.  One  fact  is  worth  more 
than  a  wagonload  of  incorrect  opinions.  As  an  American 
citizen,  I  feel  compelled  to  question  if  the  development  of 
the  irrigation  projects  you  mention  is  the  best  use  of  fed- 
eral funds  at  the  present  time.  Private  enterprise  has  al- 
ready put  under  irrigation  twelve  million  acres  of  land  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  Government  has  added  only 
one  million  acres.  Even  with  all  the  projects  now  con- 
templated, including  twenty-eight  different  areas,  the  total 
acreage  put  under  irrigation  by  the  Government  will 
amount  to  only  3,200,000  acres,  and  the  total  cost  is  es- 
timated at  $145,000,000;  whereas,  the  farm  lands  of  Illi- 
nois alone  cover  ten  times  that  area,  or  32,000,000  acres ; 
and  in  the  main  the  farm  lands  of  all  the  states  are  being 
depleted  of  their  fertility  by  much  the  same  methods  that 
have  ruined  many  million  acres  in  the  older  states. 

"  I  think  we  should  understand  and  keep  in  mind  that 
$145,000,000  would  make  a  detail  soil  survey  of  every 
farm  in  the  United  States,  furnish  every  farmer  with  an  ac- 
curate invoice  of  every  type  of  soil  on  his  farm,  and  in 
addition  leave  enough  endowment  to  conduct  a  permanent 
experiment  field  or  demonstration  farm  in  every  county  in 
the  United  States. 

"  But  I  must  not  detain  you  longer.  J  am  very  glad  to 
have  met  you  here.  In  large  measure  the  statesmen  of 
America  must  bear  the  responsibility  for  the  future  con- 
dition of  agriculture  and  the  other  great  industries  of  the 
United  States,  all  of  which  depend  upon  agriculture  for 
their  support  and  prosperity.  Good-bye." 

"  I'll  agree  with  you  there  all  right ;  the  farmer  feeds 
them  all.  Good-bye." 


CHAPTER    XXV 
A  LESSON  ON  TOBACCO 

PERCY  found  Leonardtown  almost  in  the  center  of 
St.  Mary  county,  situated  on  Breton  bay,  an  arm 
of  the  lower  Potomac. 

From  the  data  recorded  on  the  back  of  his  map  of 
Maryland,  Percy  noted  that  a  population  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty-four  found  support  in  this  old  county  seat,  ac- 
cording to  the  census  of  1900.  After  spending  the  day 
in  the  country,  he  found  himself  wondering  how  even  that 
number  of  people  could  be  supported,  and  then  remembered 
that  there  is  one  industry  of  some  importance  in  the  United 
States  which  exists  independent  of  agriculture,  an  industry 
which  preceded  agriculture,  and  which  evidently  has  also 
succeeded  agriculture  to  a  very  considerable  extent  in  some 
places ;  namely,  fishing. 

"  Clams,  oysters  and  fish,  and  in  this  order,"  he  said  to 
himself,  "  apparently  constitute  the  means  of  support  for 
some  of  these  people." 

And  yet  the  country  was  not  depopulated,  although  very 
much  of  the  arable  land  was  abandoned  for  agricultural 
purposes.  A  farm  of  a  hundred  acres  might  have  ten 
acres  under  cultivation,  this  being  as  much  as  the  farmer 
could  "keep  up,"  as  was  commonly  stated.  This  meant 
that  all  of  the  farm  manure  and  other  refuse  that  could 
be  secured  from  the  entire  farm  or  hauled  from  the  village, 
together  with  what  commercial  fertilizer  the  farmer  was 
able  to  buy,  would  not  enable  him  to  keep  more  than  ten 
acres  of  land  in  a  state  of  productiveness  that  justified  its 

174 


A  LESSON  ON  TOBACCO  175 

cultivation.  Tobacco,  corn,  wheat  and  cowpeas  were  the 
principal  crops.  Corn  was  the  principal  article  of  food, 
with  wheat  bread  more  or  less  common.  The  cowpeas  and 
corn  fodder  usually  kept  one  or  more  cows  through  the 
winter  when  they  could  not  secure  a  living  in  the  brush. 
Tobacco,  the  principal  "  money  crop,"  was  depended  on 
to  buy  clothing  and  "  groceries,"  which  included  more  or 
less  fish  and  pork,  although  some  farmers  "  raised  their 
own  meat,"  in  part  by  fattening  hogs  on  the  acorns  that 
fell  in  the  autumn  from  the  scrub  oak  trees. 

One  farm  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  acres  owned  by  an 
old  lady,  who  lived  in  the  near-by  country  village,  was 
rented  for  $100  a  year,  which  amounted  to  about  fifty- two 
and  one-half  cents  an  acre  as  the  gross  income  to  the  land- 
owner. After  the  taxes  were  paid,  about  thirty  cents  an 
acre  remained  for  repairs  on  buildings  and  fences  and  in- 
terest on  the  investment. 

Percy  spent  some  time  on  a  five  hundred-acre  farm  be- 
longing to  an  old  gentleman  who  still  gave  his  name  as 
F.  Allerton  Jones,  a  man  whose  father  had  been  prominent 
in  the  community.  According  to  the  county  soil  map 
which  had  been  presented  to  Percy  by  the  Bureau  of  Soils, 
the  soil  of  this  farm  was  all  Leonardtown  loam,  except 
about  forty  acres  which  occupied  the  sides  of  a  narrow 
valley  a  bend  of  which  cut  the  farm  on  the  south  side. 

"My  father  had  this  whole  farm  under  cultivation," 
said  Mr.  Jones,  "  except  the  hillsides.  But  what's  the  use  ? 
We  get  along  with  a  good  deal  less  work,  and  I've  found  it 
better  to  cultivate  less  ground  during  the  forty  odd  years 
I've  had  to  meet  the  bills.  But  I've  kept  up  more  of  my 
land  than  most  of  my  neighbors.  I  reckon  I've  got  about 
eighty  acres  of  good  cleared  land  yet  on  this  farm,  and  the 
leaves  and  pine  needles  we  rake  up  where  the  trees  grow 
on  the  old  fields  make  a  good  fertilizer  for  the  land  we  aim 


176  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

to  cultivate,  and  I  get  a  good  many  loads  of  manure  from 
friends  who  live  in  the  village  and  keep  a  cow  or  a  horse. 

"  The  last  crop  I  raised  on  that  east  field,  where  you  see 
those  scrub  pines,  was  in  1881.  I  finished  cultivating  corn 
there  the  day  I  heard  about  President  Garfield  being  shot ; 
and  it  was  a  mighty  hot  July  day  too.  My  neighbor, 
Seth  Whitmore,  who  died  about  ten  years  ago,  came  along 
from  the  village  and  waited  for  me  to  come  to  the  end  of 
the  row  down  by  the  road  and  he  told  me  that  Garfield  was 
shot.  We  both  allowed  the  corn  would  be  a  pretty  fair 
crop  and  when  I  gathered  the  fodder  that  fall  there  was  a 
right  smart  of  a  corn  crop.  Yes,  Sir,  it's  pretty  good 
land,  but  we  don't  need  much  corn,  no  how,  and  we  can 
make  more  money  out  of  tobacco.  Of  course  it  takes  lots 
of  manure  and  fertilizer  to  grow  a  good  patch  of  tobacco, 
but  good  tobacco  always  brings  good  money." 

"  About  how  much  money  do  you  get  for  an  acre  of 
tobacco  ?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  That  varies  a  lot  with  the  quality  and  price  —  some- 
times $100  —  sometimes  $300,  when  the  trust  don't  hold 
the  price  down  on  us.  We  can  raise  good  tobacco  and 
good  tobacco  brings  us  good  money.  We  can  always  ma- 
nure an  acre  or  two  for  tobacco  and  get  our  groceries  and 
some  clothes  now  and  then,  and  that's  about  all  anybody 
gets  in  this  world,  I  reckon.  But  taxes  are  mighty  high, 
I  tell  you.  About  $75  to  $80  I  have  to  pay.  Are  taxes 
high  out  West?" 

"  We  pay  about  forty  to  fifty  cents  an  acre  in  the  corn 
belt,"  Percy  replied ;  "  but,  in  a  course  I  took  in  economics, 
I  learned  that  the  taxes  do  not  vary  in  proportion  to  land 
values.  Poor  lands,  if  inhabited,  must  always  pay  heavy 
taxes ;  whereas,  large  areas  of  good  land  carry  lighter 
taxes  compared  with  their  earning  capacity.  You  must 
provide  your  regular  expenses  for  county  officers,  county 


A  LESSON  ON  TOBACCO  177 

courthouse,  jail,  and  poorhouse,  about  the  same  as  we  do. 
Your  roads  and  bridges  cost  as  much  as  ours;  and  the 
schools  in  the  South  should  cost  more  than  ours,  for  a  com- 
plete double  system  of  schools  is  usually  provided." 

"  But  did  you  say  that  you  paid  fifty  cents  an  acre  in 
taxes  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Jones. 

"  Yes,  about  that,  in  the  corn  belt,"  replied  Percy,  "  but 
not  so  much  in  Southern  Illinois  where  the  land  is  poor. 
I  think  the  farmers  in  that  section  pay  taxes  as  low  as 
yours.  They  think  they  can't  afford  real  good  schools. 

**  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  have  poor  land  in  Illi- 
nois?" 

"  Yes,  the  common  prairie  land  of  Southern  Illinois 
must  be  called  poor  as  compared  with  the  corn-belt  land. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  land  in  Southern  Illinois  that  was 
put  under  cultivation  before  1820,  and  eighty  crops  must 
have  made  a  heavy  draft  upon  the  store  of  plant  food 
originally  contained  in  those  soils." 

"  Only  since  1820?  Why,  we  began  to  till  the  soil  right 
here,  Young  Man,  in  St.  Mary  County,  in  1634 ;  and  don't 
you  know,  Sir,  that  we  had  a  rebellion  here  as  early  as 
1645?  Yes,  Sir,  that  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
years  before  1820.  So  you've  raised  only  eighty  crops 
and  the  land  is  already  getting  poor,  and  we've  raised  two 
hundred  and  fifty  crops  —  well,  maybe,  not  quite  so  many, 
for  we've  been  giving  our  land  a  good  deal  of  rest  for  the 
last  fifty  or  sixty  years ;  but  my  grandfather  used  to  raise 
twenty-five  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre  with  the  help  of  a 
hundred  pounds  of  land-plaster,  and  I've  no  doubt  I  could 
do  it  again  to-day  if  I  cared  to  raise  wheat,  but  one  acre 
of  tobacco  is  worth  ten  of  wheat,  so  why  should  I  bother 
with  wheat  ?  " 

"  Twenty-five  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,"  repeated 
Percy,  half  to  himself.  "  The  total  supply  of  phosphorus 


178  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

still  remaining  in  the  plowed  soil  would  be  sufficient  for 
only  twenty  more  crops  like  that.  Two  hundred  years  of 
such  crops  would  require  1600  pounds  of  phosphorus,  mak- 
ing nearly  1800  pounds  at  the  beginning,  if  it  all  came 
from  the  plowed  soil.  That  is  one  and  a  half  times  as 
much  as  is  now  contained  in  our  common  corn-belt  prairie 
land." 

"  More  stuff  in  our  land  than  in  yours,  did  you  say?  " 
questioned  the  old  man.  "  I  told  you  we  had  pretty  good 
soil  here,  but  I've  always  allowed  your  soil  was  better,  but 
maybe  not.  I  tell  you  manure  lasts  on  this  land.  You  can 
see  where  you  put  it  for  nigh  twenty  years.  Then  we  rest 
our  land  some  and  that  helps  a  sight,  and  if  the  price  stays 
up  we  make  good  money  on  tobacco.  I'm  sorry  your  land 
is  getting  so  poor  out  West,  especially  if  you  can't  raise 
tobacco.  Ever  tried  tobacco,  Young  Man?  —  gosh,  but 
you  remind  me  of  one  of  them  Government  fellows  who 
came  driving  along  here  once  when  Bob  and  his  brothers 
were  plowing  corn  right  here  about  three  years  ago. 
Bob's  my  tenant's  nigger,  and  he  ain't  no  fool,  even  if  he  is 
colored ;  but  then,  to  tell  the  truth,  he  ain't  much  colored. 
Well,  I  was  sitting  under  a  tree  right  here  smoking  and 
keeping  an  eye  on  the  niggers  unbeknownst  to  them,  when 
one  of  them  Government  fellows  stopped  his  horse  as  Bob 
was  turning  the  end,  and  says  he  to  Bob: 

"'Your  corn  seems  to  be  looking  mighty  yellow?' 

"  '  Yes,  Suh,'  says  Bob.  '  Yes,  Suh,  we  done  planted 
yellow  co'n.' 

" '  Well,  I  mean  it  looks  as  though  you  won't  get  more 
than  half  a  crop,'  says  he. 

"  *  I  reckon  not,'  says  Bob.  *  The  landlo'd,  he  done  gets 
the  other  half.' 

*'  With  that  the  fellow  says  to  Bob : 

"  '  It  seems  to  me  you're  mighty  near  a  fool.' 


A  LESSON  ON  TOBACCO  179 

"  *  Yes,  Suh,'  says  Bob,  *  and  I'm  mighty  feared  I'll 
catch  it  if  I  don't  get  a  goinV 

"  The  fellow  just  gave  his  horse  a  cut  and  drove  on,  but 
I  liked  to  died.  He'd  been  here  two  or  three  times  pester- 
ing me  with  questions  about  raising  tobacco.  Say,  you 
ain't  one  of  them  Government  fellows,  are  you?  They 
were  traveling  all  around  over  this  county  three  years  ago, 
learning  how  we  raised  tobacco  and  all  kinds  of  crops. 
They  had  augers  and  said  they  were  investigating  soils, 
but  I  never  heard  nothing  of  'em  since.  Have  you  got  an 
auger  to  investigate  soils  with?  " 

Percy  was  compelled  to  admit  that  he  had  an  auger  and 
that  he  was  trying  to  learn  all  he  could  about  the  soil. 

He  had  driven  to  Mr.  Jones'  farm  because  his  land  hap- 
pened to  be  situated  in  a  large  area  of  Leonardtown  loam, 
and  he  felt  free  to  stop  and  talk  with  him  because  he  had 
found  him  leaning  against  the  fence,  smoking  a  cob  pipe, 
apparently  trying  to  decide  what  to  do  with  some  small 
shocks  of  corn  scattered  over  a  field  of  about  fifteen  acres. 

Percy  stepped  to  the  buggy  and  drew  out  his  soil  auger, 
then  returned  to  the  corn  field  and  began  to  bore  a  hole 
near  where  Mr.  Jones  was  standing. 

"  That's  the  thing,"  said  he,  "  the  same  kind  of  an  auger 
them  fellows  had  three  years  ago.  Still  boring  holes,  are 
you?  Want  to  bore  around  over  my  farm  again,  do 
you?" 

Percy  replied  that  he  would  be  glad  to  make  borings  in 
several  places  in  order  that  he  might  see  about  what  the 
soil  and  subsoil  were  like  in  that  kind  of  land. 

"  That's  all  right,  Young  Man.  Just  bore  as  many 
holes  as  you  please.  I  suppose  you'd  rather  do  that  than 
work ;  but  you'll  have  to  excuse  me.  I've  got  a  lot  to  do 
to-day  and  it's  already  getting  late.  I  can't  take  time 
again  to  tell  you  fellows  how  to  raise  tobacco.  Good  day." 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

ANOTHER  LESSON  ON  TOBACCO 

THE  old  man  had  stuck  his  cob  pipe  in  a  pocket  and 
filled  his  mouth  with  a  chew  of  tobacco. 

He  walked  by  Percy's  buggy  with  the  tobacco 
juice  drizzling  from  the  corners  of  his  mouth,  and  turned 
down  the  road  toward  the  house. 

Percy  finished  boring  the  hole  and  then  returned  to  the 
buggy. 

"  Christ,  that  old  man  eats  tobacco  like  a  beast ! "  ex- 
claimed the  driver  as  Percy  approached. 

"  Are  you  speaking  to  me?  "  asked  Percy. 

"  Why,  certainly." 

"  That  is  not  my  name,  please,"  admonished  Percy, 
"  but  I  can  tell  you  that  I  know  Him  well  and  that  He  is 
my  best  friend." 

"What,  old  AlJones?" 

"  No, —  Christ,"  replied  Percy,  with  a  grieved  expres- 
sion plainly  discernible. 

"  Oh,"  said  the  driver. 

They  drove  past  the  Jones  residence  and  out  into  the 
field  beyond.  The  house  one  might  have  thought  deserted 
except  for  the  well-beaten  paths  and  the  presence  of  chick- 
ens in  the  yard.  It  was  a  large  structure  with  two  and  a 
half  stories.  The  cornice  and  window  trimmings  revealed 
the  beauty  and  wealth  of  former  days.  Rare  shrubs  still 
grew  in  the  spacious  front  yard,  and  gnarled  remnants  of 
orchard  trees  were  to  be  seen  in  the  rear.  A  dozen  other 

180 


ANOTHER  LESSON  ON  TOBACCO    181 

buildings,  large  and  small,  occupied  the  background,  some 
with  the  roofs  partly  fallen,  others  evidently  still  in  use. 

"  How  old  do  you  suppose  these  buildings  are?  "  asked 
Percy  of  the  driver. 

'*  About  a  hundred  years,"  he  replied,  "  and  I  reckon 
they've  had  no  paint  nor  fixin'  since  they  was  built,  'cept 
they  have  to  give  some  of  'em  new  shingles  now  and  then 
or  they'd  all  fall  to  pieces  like  the  old  barns  back  yonder." 

Percy  examined  the  soil  in  several  places  on  the  Jones 
farm  and  on  other  farms  in  the  neighborhood.  They 
lunched  on  crackers  and  canned  beans  at  a  country  store 
and  made  a  more  extended  drive  in  the  afternoon. 

"It  is  a  fine  soil,"  Percy  said  to  the  driver,  as  they 
started  for  Leonardtown.  "  It  contains  enough  sand  for 
easy  tillage  and  quick  drainage,  and  enough  clay  to  hold 
anything  that  might  be  applied  to  it." 

"That's  right,"  said  the  driver.  "Where  they  put 
plenty  of  manure  and  fertilizer  they  raise  tobacco  four 
foot  high  and  fifteen  hundred  pounds  to  the  acre,  but 
where  they  run  the  tobacco  rows  beyond  the  manured  land 
so's  to  be  sure  and  not  to  lose  any  manure,  why  the  stuff 
won't  grow  six  inches  high  and  it  just  turns  yellow  and 
seems  to  dry  up,  no  matter  if  it  rains  every  day.  Say, 
Mister,  would  you  mind  telling  me  if  you're  a  preacher  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  replied  Percy,  "  I  am  not  a  preacher,  any 
more  than  every  Christian  must  be  loyal  to  the  name." 

"  Well,  anyway,  I've  learned  a  lesson  I'll  try  to  remem- 
ber. I  never  thought  before  about  how  it  might  hurt  other 
people  when  I  swear.  I  don't  mean  nothing  by  it.  It's 
just  a  habit;  but  your  saying  Christ  is  your  friend  makes 
me  feel  that  I  have  no  business  talking  about  anybody's 
friend,  any  more  than  I'd  like  to  hear  anybody  else  use 
my  mother's  name  as  a  by-word.  I  reckon  nobody  has  any 
right  to  use  Christ's  name  'cept  Christians  or  them  as 


183  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

wants  to  be  Christians.  I  reckon  we'd  never  heard  the 
name  if  it  hadn't  a  been  for  the  Christians. 

"  But  I  don't  have  so  many  bad  habits.  I  don't  drink, 
nor  smoke,  nor  chew;  and  I  don't  want  to.  My  father 
smoked  some  and  chewed  a  lot,  and  I  know  the  smell  of 
tobacco  used  to  make  my  mother  about  as  sick  as  she 
could  be ;  but  she  had  to  stand  it,  or  at  least  she  did  stand 
it  till  father  died;  and  now  she  lives  with  me,  and  I  tell 
you  I'm  mightly  glad  she  don't  have  to  smell  no  more 
tobacco. 

"  She  often  speaks  of  it  —  mother  does ;  and  she  say* 
she's  so  thankful  she's  got  a  boy  that  don't  use  tobacco. 
She  says  men  that  use  tobacco  don't  know  how  bad  it  is 
for  other  folks  to  smell  'em.  Why,  sometimes  I  come  home 
when  I've  just  been  driving  a  man  some  place  in  the  coun- 
try, riding  along  like  you  and  I  are  now,  and  he  a  smoking 
or  chewing,  or  at  least  his  clothes  soaked  full  of  the  vile 
odor ;  and  when  I  get  home  mother  says,  *  My !  but  you 
must  have  had  an  old  stink  pot  along  with  you  to-day.' 
She  can  smell  it  on  my  clothes  and  I  just  hang  my  coat 
out  in  the  shed  till  the  scent  gets  off  from  it. 

"  No,  Sir,  I  don't  want  any  tobacco  for  me,  and  I  don't 
know  as  I'd  care  to  raise  the  stuff  for  other  folks  to  sat- 
urate themselves  with  either;  and  every  kid  is  allowed  to 
use  it  nowadays,  or  at  least  most  of  them  get  it.  It's 
easy  enough  to  get  it.  Why,  a  kid  can't  keep  away  from 
getting  these  cigarettes,  if  he  tries.  They're  everywhere. 
Every  kid  has  his  pockets  full ;  and  I  know  blamed  well  that 
some  smoke  so  many  cigarettes  they  get  so  they  aren't 
more  than  half  bright.  It's  a  fact,  Sir, —  plenty  of  'em, 
too ;  and  some  old  men,  like  Al  Jones,  are  just  so  soaked  in 
tobacco  they  seem  about  half  dead.  Course,  it  ain't  like 
whiskey,  but  I  think  it's  worse  than  beer  if  beer  didn't 
make  one  want  whiskey  later. 


183 

"  But  as  I  was  saying,  I  feel  that  I  have  no  business  say- 
ing things  about, —  about  anybody  you  call  your  friend, 
and  I  think  I'll  just  swear  off  swearing,  if  I  can." 

"  You  can  if  you  will  just  let  Him  be  your  friend." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  much  about  that,"  was  the  slow 
reply.  "  That  takes  faith,  and  I  don't  have  much  faith  in 
some  of  the  church  members  I  know." 

"  That  used  to  trouble  me  also,"  said  Percy,  "  until  one 
time  the  thought  impressed  itself  upon  me  that  even  Christ 
himself  did  all  His  great  work  with  one  of  the  twelve  a 
traitor;  and  this  thought  always  comes  to  me  now  when 
self-respecting  men  object  to  uniting  with  organized  Chris- 
tianity because  of  those  who  may  be  regarded  as  traitors 
or  hypocrites,  but  not  of  such  flagrant  character  as  to  in- 
sure expulsion  from  the  Church?  " 

"  Do  you  believe  in  miracles  ?  "  asked  the  driver. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Percy,  "  in  such  miracles  as  the  growth 
of  the  corn  plant." 

"  Why,  that  isn't  any  miracle.  Everybody  understands 
all  about  that." 

"  Not  everybody,"  replied  Percy.  "  There  is  only  One 
who  understands  it.  There  is  only  one  great  miracle,  and 
that  is  the  miracle  of  life.  It  is  said  that  men  adulterate 
coffee,  even  to  the  extent  of  making  the  bean  or  berry  so 
nearly  like  the  natural  that  it  requires  an  expert  to  detect 
the  fraud;  but  do  you  think  an  imitation  seed  would 
grow  ?  " 

"  No,  it  wouldn't  grow,"  said  the  driver. 

"  Not  only  that,"  said  Percy,  "  but  we  may  have  a  nat- 
ural and  perfect  grain  of  corn  and  it  can  never  be  made 
to  grow  by  any  or  all  of  the  knowledge  and  skill  of  men,  if 
for  a  single  instant  the  life  principle  has  left  the  kernel, 
which  may  easily  result  by  changing  its  temperature  a 
few  degrees  above  or  below  the  usual  range.  The  spark 


184  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

of  life  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,  and  man  is  as  helpless 
to  restore  it  as  when  he  first  walked  the  earth. 

"  What  miracles  do  you  find  hard  to  accept  ?  "  asked 
Percy. 

"  How  could  Jesus  know  that  Lazarus  had  died  when  he 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  Percy  replied ;  "  perhaps  by  some  sort 
of  wireless  message  which  his  soul  could  receive.  I  don't 
know  how,  but  it  was  no  greater  miracle  than  it  would  have 
been  then  to  have  done  what  I  did  last  week." 

The  driver  turned  to  look  squarely  at  Percy  as  though 
in  doubt  of  his  sanity,  but  a  kindly  smile  reassured  him. 

"  Our  train  coming  into  Cincinnati  ran  in  two  sections," 
Percy  continued,  "  and  the  section  ahead  of  us  was  wrecked, 
three  travellers  being  killed  and  about  fifteen  others 
wounded.  I  was  sure  my  mother  would  hear  of  the  wreck 
before  I  could  reach  her  with  a  letter,  and  so  I  talked  with 
her  from  Cincinnati  over  the  long  distance  'phone,  with 
which  we  have  always  had  connection  since  I  first  went 
away  to  college.  Yes,  I  talked  with  her,  and  though 
separated  by  a  distance  three  times  the  entire  length  of 
Palestine,  I  distinctly  heard  and  recognized  my  mother's 
voice.  Oh,  yes,  I  believe  in  miracles ;  but  that  is  a  matter 
of  small  consequence.  The  important  thing  is  that  we 
have  faith  in  God  and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son." 

"Well,  that's  what  troubles  me,"  said  the  driver: 
"How's  one  to  get  faith?" 

"  There  are  two  methods  of  receiving  faith,"  replied 
Percy.  "  Faith  cometh  by  prayer." 

"  Yes,  Sir,  I  believe  that." 

"  And  *  faith  cometh  by  hearing.'  " 

"  Hearing  what?  " 

"  *  Hearing  by  the  Word  of  God  ' ;  hearing  those  who 
have  studied  His  Word  and  who  testify  of  Him ;  and  hear- 
ing with  an  ear  ready  to  receive  the  truth." 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

EIGHTEEN  TO  ONE 

TWO  days  later  Percy  was  in  Rhode  Island  visiting  a 
farm  owned  by  Samuel  Robbins,  one  of  the  most 
progressive  and  successful  farmers  of  that  State. 

Mr.  Robbins'  farm  lay  in  what  appeared  to  be  an  an- 
cient valley,  several  miles  in  width,  although  only  a  small 
stream  now  winds  through  it  to  the  sea  seven  miles  away. 

"  So  you  are  from  Illinois,"  said  Mr.  Robbins,  after 
Percy  had  introduced  himself  and  explained  the  nature  of 
his  visit.  "  The  papers  have  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the 
corn  you  grow  in  Illinois;  but  have  you  noticed  that  the 
Government  reports  show  our  average  yield  of  corn  in  New 
England  is  higher  than  yours  in  Illinois  ? " 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  Percy  replied,  "  I  have  noticed  that  and  I 
have  come  to  Rhode  Island  to  learn  how  to  raise  more  corn 
per  acre.  I  have  noticed,  however,  that  New  England  corn 
does  not  occupy  a  large  acreage." 

'*  Well,  now,  we  count  corn  as  one  of  our  big  crops,  next 
to  hay.  You'll  see  plenty  of  corn  fields  right  here  in 
Rhode  Island." 

'*  Would  you  believe  that  we  actually  raise  more  corn  on 
one  farm  in  Illinois  than  the  total  corn  crop  of  Rhode 
Island?" 

"You  don't  tell!" 

"  Yes,"  said  Percy,  "  the  Isaac  Funk  farm  in  McLean 
County  grows  more  corn  on  seven  thousand  acres  a  year, 
with  an  average  yield  certainly  above  fifty  bushels  per 
acre,  and  surely  making  a  total  above  350,000  bushels; 

185 


186  THE  STORY  OF.  THE  SOIL 

while  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  grows  corn  on  nearly  ten 
thousand  acres  with  an  average  yield  of  thirty-two  bush- 
els, making  a  total  yield  of  about  320,000  bushels." 

"  Well,  I'll  give  it  up ;  but  I'd  like  to  know  how  much 
corn  you  raise  in  the  whole  State  of  Illinois." 

"  Our  average  production,"  said  Percy,  "  is  about  equal 
to  the  total  production  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
Alabama,  and  Mississippi." 

"  Eighteen  of  us ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Robbins,  who  had 
counted  on  his  fingers  from  New  York  to  Mississippi. 
"And  you  come  to  Rhode  Island  to  learn  how  to  raise 
corn?" 

"  Yes,  I  came  to  learn  how  you  raise  more  than  thirty- 
five  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  as  an  average  for  New  Eng- 
land, while  we  raise  less  than  thirty-five  bushels  as  an 
average  in  Illinois,  and  while  Georgia,  a  larger  State  than 
Illinois,  raises  only  eleven  bushels  per  acre  as  a  ten-year 
average.  Illinois  is  a  new  State,  but  I  call  to  mind  that 
Roger  Williams  settled  in  Rhode  Island  in  1636  and  that 
he  was  joined  by  many  others  coming  not  only  from  Mas- 
sachusetts but  also  from  other  sections.  I  assume  that 
much  of  the  land  in  Rhode  Island  has  been  farmed  for  250 
years,  and  the  fact  that  you  are  still  producing  more  than 
thirty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  as  an  average,  is,  it  seems 
to  me,  a  fact  of  great  significance.  I  suppose  you  use  all 
the  manure  you  can  make  from  the  crops  you  raise  and  per- 
haps use  some  commercial  fertilizer  also.  I  should  like  to 
know  what  yield  of  corn  you  produce  without  any  manure 
or  fertilizer?  " 

"  We  don't  produce  any,"  said  Mr.  Robbins ;  "  at  least 
we  know  we  wouldn't  produce  any  corn  without  fertilizing 


EIGHTEEN  TO  ONE  187 

the  land  in  one  way  or  another.  If  you  will  walk  over 
here  a  little  ways  you  can  see  for  yourself.  I  didn't  have 
quite  enough  manure  to  finish  this  field,  and  I  had  no  more 
time  to  haul  seaweed,  so  I  planted  without  getting  any  ma- 
nure on  a  few  rods  in  one  corner,  and  the  corn  there 
wouldn't  make  three  bushels  from  an  acre.  I  didn't  bother 
to  try  to  cut  it,  but  the  cows  will  get  what  little  fodder 
there  is  as  soon  as  I  can  get  the  shocks  out  of  the  field  and 
turn  'ern  in  for  a  few  days  to  pick  up  what  they  can." 

Percy  examined  the  corn  plants  still  standing  in  the 
corner  of  the  field.  They  had  grown  to  a  height  of  about 
two  feet.  Most  of  them  had  tassels  and  many  of  them  ap- 
peared to  have  little  ears,  but  really  had  only  husks  con- 
taining no  ear.  In  a  few  places  where  the  hill  contained 
only  one  plant  a  little  nubbin  of  corn  could  be  found. 

"  I  don't  mean  to  let  any  of  my  land  get  as  poor  as  this 
field  was,"  continued  Mr.  Robbins,  "but  I  just  couldn't 
get  to  it,  and  I  left  it  in  hay  about  two  years  longer  than 
I  should  have  done.  Last  year  was  first  class  for  hay  but 
this  field  has  been  down  so  long  it  was  hardly  worth  cut- 
ting." 

"  About  what  yield  do  you  get  from  the  manured  land?  " 
inquired  Percy. 

"  In  a  fair  year  I  get  about  forty  bushels,  and  that's 
about  what  I  am  getting  this  year  from  my  best  fields. 
You  see  there's  lots  of  corn  in  these  shocks.  There's  about 
an  average  ear,  and  we  get  five  or  six  ears  to  the  hill." 

"  Eight-row  flint,"  said  Percy,  as  he  took  the  ear  in  his 
hand  and  drew  a  celluloid  paper  knife  from  his  vest  pocket 
with  a  six-inch  scale  marked  on  one  side. 

"  Yes,  Sir,  our  regular  Rhode  Island  White  Cap." 

"  Just  five  inches  long.     Weight  about  three  ounces  ?  " 

"  Perhaps.  We  count  on  about  four  hundred  ears  to 
the  bushel.  If  we  get  four  thousand  hills  to  the  acre,  one 


188  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ear  to  the  hill  would  give  us  ten  bushels  per  acre,  so  you 
see  we  only  have  to  have  four  ears  to  the  hill  to  make  our 
forty  bushels.  A  good  many  hills  have  five  to  six  ears, 
but  then  of  course,  some  hills  don't  have  much  of  any,  so 
I  suppose  my  corn  makes  an  average  of  four  ears  about 
like  that." 

"  I  suppose  you  feed  all  of  the  corn  you  raise  in  order 
to  produce  as  much  manure  as  possible." 

"  Feed  that  corn !  Not  much,  we  don't.  Why,  corn  like 
that  brings  us  close  on  to  a  dollar  a  bushel.  No,  Sir,  we 
don't  feed  this  corn.  It's  all  used  for  meal.  It  makes  the 
best  kind  of  corn  meal.  No,  we  buy  corn  for  feed ;  West- 
ern corn.  Oh,  we  feed  lots  of  corn;  three  times  as  much 
as  we  raise;  but  we  don't  feed  dollar  corn,  when  we  can 
buy  Western  corn  for  seventy-five  or  eighty  cents. 

"  I  sell  corn  and  I  sell  potatoes ;  that's  all  except  the 
milk.  I  keep  most  of  my  land  in  meadow  and  pasture  and 
feed  everything  I  raise  except  the  corn  and  potatoes. 
And  milk  is  a  good  product  with  us.  We  average  about 
sixty  cents  a  pound  for  butter  fat,  and  it's  ready  money 
every  month ;  and,  of  course,  we  need  it  every  month  to  pay 
for  feed." 

"  Then  you  produce  on  the  farm  all  the  manure  you 
use,"  suggested  Percy,  "  but  I  think  you  mentioned  haul- 
ing seaweed." 

"  Yes,  and  I  haul  some  manure,  too,  when  I  can  get  it ; 
but  usually  there  are  three  or  four  farmers  ready  to  take 
every  load  of  town  manure." 

"  You  get  it  from  town  for  the  hauling?  " 

"  Well,  I  guess  not,"  said  Mr.  Bobbins  emphatically  and 
with  apparent  astonishment  at  such  a  question.  "  I  don't 
think  I  would  haul  seaweed  seven  miles  if  I  could  get  ma- 
nure in  town  for  nothing.  Manure  is  worth  $1.50  a  ton 
lying  in  the  livery  stable,  and  there  are  plenty  to  take  it 


EIGHTEEN  TO  ONE  189 

at  that  right  along.  I'd  a  little  rather  pay  that  than  haul 
seaweed ;  but  the  manure  won't  begin  to  go  around,  and  so 
there's  nothing  left  for  us  but  seaweed ;  and,  if  we  couldn't 
get  that,  the  Lord  only  knows  what  we  could  do." 

"  How  much  seaweed  can  you  haul  to  a  load,  and  about 
how  many  loads  do  you  apply  to  the  acre  ?  " 

"  When  the  roads  are  good  we  haul  a  cord  and  a  quarter, 
and  we  put  ten  or  twelve  loads  to  the  acre  for  corn  and 
then  use  some  commercial  fertilizer." 

'*  Do  you  know  how  much  a  cord  of  the  seaweed  would 
weigh?  " 

"  Yes,  a  cord  weighs  about  a  ton  and  a  half." 

"  Then  you  apply  about  twenty  tons  of  seaweed  to  the 
acre  for  corn  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  some  use  less  and  some  more ;  probably  that's 
about  an  average.  Hauling  seaweed's  a  big  job  and  a 
bad  job.  We  have  to  start  from  home  long  before  day- 
light so  as  to  get  there  and  get  the  weed  while  the  tide  is 
out,  and  then  we  get  back  with  our  load  about  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon;  and,  by  the  time  we  eat  and  feed  the 
team,  and  get  the  load  to  the  field  and  spread,  there  isn't 
much  time  left  that  day,  especially  when  you've  got  to 
pile  out  of  bed  about  two  o'clock  the  next  morning  and 
hike  off  for  another  load." 

"  Then  you  use  some  fertilizer  in  addition  to  the  sea- 
weed? May  I  ask  how  much  fertilizer  you  apply  to  the 
acre  and  about  how  much  it  costs  per  ton  ?  " 

"  When  we  spread  seaweed  for  corn,  we  add  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  per  acre  of  fertilizer  that  costs 
me  $26  a  ton,  but  I  have  the  agency  and  get  it  some 
cheaper  than  most  have  to  pay.  Then  for  potatoes  we 
apply  about  1500  pounds  of  a  special  potato  fertilizer 
that  costs  me  $34  a  ton." 

"The  fertilizer  costs  you  about  $6  an  acre  for  the  corn 


190  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

crop  and  $25  for  potatoes,"  said  Percy ;  "  and  then  you 
have  the  cost  of  the  seaweed.  I  should  think  you  would 
need  to  count  about  $25  or  $30  an  acre  for  the  expense  of 
hauling  seaweed." 

"  Yes,  all  of  that  if  we  had  to  pay  for  the  work,  but  of 
course  we  can  haul  seaweed  more  or  less  when  the  farm 
work  isn't  crowding,  and  we  don't  count  so  much  on  the 
expense.  It  doesn't  take  the  cash,  except  may  be  a  little 
for  a  boy  to  drive  one  team  when  we  haul  two  loads  at  a 
time;  and  we  don't  use  seaweed  for  potatoes.  The  corn 
crop  will  generally  more'n  pay  for  it  and  the  fertilizer 
too;  and  the  seaweed  helps  for  three  or  four  years,  es- 
pecially for  grass.  There's  good  profit  in  potatoes,  too, 
when  we  get  a  crop,  but  they're  risky,  considering  the 
money  we  have  to  pay  for  fertilizer/' 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

FARMER  OR  PROFESSOR 

AFTER  leaving  Rhode  Island,  Percy  spent  two  days 
in  and  about  Boston,  and  then  returned  to  Con- 
necticut for  a  day.  The  weather  had  turned  cold ; 
the  ground  had  frozen  and  the  falling  snow  reminded  him 
that  it  was  the  day  before  Thanksgiving. 

From  New  London  he  took  a  night  boat  to  New  York, 
and  then  took  passage  on  a  Coast  Line  vessel  from  New 
York  to  Norfolk. 

The  weather  had  cleared  and  the  wind  decreased  until 
it  was  scarcely  greater  than  the  speed  of  the  ship. 

Whether  or  not  the  dining-room  service  was  extraordi- 
nary because  of  the  day,  Percy  was  soon  convinced  that 
the  only  way  to  travel  was  by  boat.  He  regretted  only 
that  his  mother  was  not  with  him  to  enjoy  that  day.  For 
hours  they  coasted  southward  within  easy  view  of  the  New 
Jersey  shore,  dotted  here  and  there  with  cities,  towns,  and 
villages.  Light-houses  marked  the  rocky  points  where 
danger  once  lurked  for  the  men  of  the  sea. 

The  sea  itself  was  of  constant  interest;  and  hundreds 
of  craft  were  passed  or  met;  here  a  full-rigged  sailing 
vessel  lazily  drifting  with  the  wind;  there  a  giant  little 
tug  puffing  in  the  opposite  direction  with  a  string  of  bar- 
ges in  tow  loaded  almost  to  the  water's  edge. 

Norfolk  was  reached  early  the  next  morning,  and  be- 
fore noon  Percy  passed  through  Petersburg  on  his  way  to 

191 


192  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

Montplain.  He  changed  cars  at  Lynchburg  and  arrived 
at  Montplain  before  dark.  In  accordance  with  a  promise 
to  Mr.  West  he  had  notified  him  of  his  plans. 

Would  Adelaide  meet  him,  and  if  so  would  she  have  the 
family  carriage  and  again  insist  upon  his  riding  in  the 
rear  seat?  He  had  found  these  questions  in  his  mind  re- 
peatedly since  he  left  New  London,  with  no  very  definite 
purpose  before  him  except  to  arrive  at  Montplain  at  the 
appointed  time. 

Yes,  it  was  the  family  carriage.  He  saw  the  farm  team 
tied  across  the  street  from  the  depot.  As  he  left  the  train 
he  caught  a  glimpse  of  Adelaide  standing  with  the  group 
of  people  who  were  waiting  to  board  the  train.  She  ex- 
tended her  hand  as  he  reached  her  side. 

"  Mr.  Johnston,  meet  my  cousin,  Professor  Barstow." 

"I  am  glad  to  meet  you,  Professor,"  said  Percy,  as  he 
shook  hands  with  a  tall  young  man  about  his  own  age. 
Percy  noted  his  handsome  face  and  gentlemanly  bearing. 

"  Miss  Adelaide  calls  me  cousin,"  said  Barstow,  "  be- 
cause my  aunt  married  her  uncle." 

"  Well,  Sir,  if  we're  not  cousins,  then  I'm  Miss  West  and 
not  Miss  Adelaide.  Is  that  too  much  for  an  absent- 
minded  professor  to  remember?" 

"  I'm  afraid  it  is,"  said  Barstow,  "  and  I  am  sure  I 
would  rather  be  cousins." 

"  Professor  Barstow  leaves  on  this  train,"  Adelaide  ex- 
plained to  Percy ;  "  excuse  me,  please." 

Percy  raised  his  hat  as  he  stepped  back  from  the  crowd 
and  waited  for  the  parting  of  the  two.  He  was  sure  that 
Barstow  held  her  hand  longer  than  was  necessary,  and  he 
also  noticed  that  her  face  flushed  as  she  rejoined  him  after 
the  train  started. 

"  Will  you  take  the  rear  seat  ? "  she  asked,  as  they 
reached  the  carriage. 


FARMER  OR  PROFESSOR  193 

"  If  you  so  prefer." 

"  That  seat  is  for  our  guests,  so  I  don't  prefer,"  came 
her  reply,  which  left  Percy  wholly  in  the  dark  as  to  her 
wishes. 

"  Then  let  me  be  your  coachman  rather  than  your 
guest." 

"  If  you  so  prefer,"  she  repeated,  and  without  waiting 
for  assistance  quickly  mounted  to  the  front  seat,  leaving 
him  to  occupy  the  driver's  seat  beside  her. 

"  Captain  and  Mrs.  Stone  of  Montplain  were  with  us 
for  Thanksgiving  and  I  came  with  the  carriage  to  take 
them  home.  Professor  Barstow  has  also  been  spending 
his  Thanksgiving  vacation  visiting  with  papa." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Percy,  as  he  took  the  lines  and 
turned  the  horses  toward  Westover. 

"  You  are  certainly  welcome  to  drive  this  team  if  you 
enjoy  it." 

"  I  thank  you  for  that  also,"  said  Percy.  Adelaide 
noted  the  word  also,  but  she  only  remarked  that  she  hoped 
he  had  enjoyed  his  travels,  though  she  could  not  under- 
stand what  pleasure  he  could  find  in  visiting  old  worn-out 
farms. 

"  Of  all  things,"  she  continued,  "  it  seems  to  me  that 
farming  is  the  last  that  anyone  would  want  to  under- 
take." 

"  It  is  both  the  first  and  the  last,"  said  Percy.  "  As 
you  know,  when  our  ancestors  came  to  America,  agricul- 
ture was  the  first  great  industry  they  were  able  to  de- 
velop. Other  industries  and  professions  follow  agricul- 
ture and  must  be  supported  in  large  measure  by  the 
agricultural  industry.  Merchants,  lawyers,  doctors  and 
teachers  are  in  a  sense  agricultural  parasites." 

An  hour  before  he  would  not  have  included  teachers  in 
this  class;  for,  next  to  the  mother  in  the  home,  he  felt 


194.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

that  the  teacher  in  the  school  is  the  greatest  necessity 
for  the  highest  development  of  the  agricultural  classes. 

"  Without  agriculture,"  he  continued,  "  America  could 
never  have  been  developed,  and,  unless  the  prosperity  of 
American  agriculture  can  be  maintained,  poverty  is  the 
only  future  for  this  great  nation.  The  soil  is  the  great- 
est source  of  wealth,  and  it  is  the  most  permanent  form  of 
wealth.  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  at  Washington 
told  me  a  few -days  ago  that  eighty-six  per  cent,  of  the 
raw  materials  used  in  all  our  manufacturing  industry 
are  produced  from  the  soil. 

"Yes,  agriculture  is  certainly  the  first  industry  in  this 
country ;  and  I  am  •  fully  convinced  that  to  restore  the 
fertility  of  the  depleted  soils  of  the  East  and  South,  and 
even  to  maintain  the  productive  power  of  the  great  agri- 
cultural regions  of  the  West,  deserves  and  will  require 
the  best  thought  of  the  most  influential  people  of  America. 

"  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  land,  the 
almost  universal  purpose  of  the  farmers  is  to  work  the 
land  for  all  they  can  get,  with  practically  no  thought  of 
permanency.  The  most  common  remark  of  the  corn-belt 
farmer  is  that  his  land  doesn't  show  much  wear  yet ;  that 
it  is  holding  up  pretty  well,  or  as  well  as  could  be  ex- 
pected; or  that  he  thinks  it  will  last  as  long  as  he  does. 
All  recognize  that  the  land  cannot  hold  up  under  the 
systems  of  farming  that  are  being  practised,  and  these 
systems  are  essentially  the  same  as  have  been  followed 
in  America  since  1607.  What  the  Southern  farmer  did 
with  slave  labor,  the  Western  farmer  is  now  doing  with 
the  gang  plow,  the  two-row  cultivator,  and  the  four- 
horse  disks  and  harrows.  In  addition  he  tile-drains  his 
land,  which  helps  to  insure  larger  crops  and  more  rapid 
soil  depletion.  He  even  uses  clover  as  a  soil  stimulant, 
and  spreads  the  farm  fertilizer  as  thinly  as  possible  with 


FARMER  OR  PROFESSOR  195 

a  machine  made  for  the  purpose,  in  order  to  secure  both 
its  plant-food  value  and  its  stimulating  effect.  Positive 
soil  enrichment  is  practically  unknown  in  the  great  corn 
belt. 

"  Robbery  is  a  harsh  word ;  and  yet  the  farmers  and 
landowners  of  America  are  and  always  have  been  soil 
robbers;  and  they  not  only  rob  the  nation  of  the  possi- 
bility of  permanent  prosperity,  but  they  even  rob  them- 
selves of  the  very  comforts  of  life  in  their  old  age  and 
their  children  and  grandchildren  of  a  rightful  inheritance. 

"Worse  than  all  this,  or  at  least  more  lamentable,  is 
the  fact  that  it  need  not  be.  The  soils  of  Virginia  need 
not  have  become  worn  out  and  abandoned,  because  the 
earth  and  the  air  are  filled  with  the  elements  of  plant 
food  that  are  essential  to  the  restoration  and  permanent 
maintenance  of  the  high  productive  capacity  of  these 
soils.  Moreover,  there  is  more  profit  and  greater  pros- 
perity for  the  present  landowner  in  a  possible  practicable 
system  of  positive  soil  improvement  than  under  any  sys- 
tem which  leads  to  ultimate  depletion  and  abandonment 
of  the  land. 

"  The  profit  in  farming  lies  first  of  all  in  securing  large 
crop  yields.  It  costs  forty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  in 
Illinois  to  raise  the  crop  and  pay  the  rent  for  the  land  or 
interest  and  taxes  on  the  investment.  With  land  worth 
$150  an  acre,  it  will  require  $8  to  pay  the  interest  and 
taxes.  Another  $8  will  be  required  to  raise  the  crop  and 
harvest  and  market  it,  even  with  very  inadequate  provi- 
sion made  for  maintaining  the  productive  power  of  the 
soil,  such  as  a  cover  crop  of  clover,  or  a  very  light  dress- 
ing of  farm  fertilizer.  A  forty-bushel  crop  of  corn  at 
forty  cents  a  bushel,  which  is  about  the  ten-year  average 
price  for  Illinois,  would  bring  only  $16  an  acre,  and  this 
would  leave  no  profit  whatever. 


196  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  A  crop  of  fifty  bushels  would  leave  only  ten  bushels 
as  profit,  but  if  we  could  double  the  yield  and  thus  pro- 
duce a  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  the  profit  would  not  be 
doubled  only,  but  it  would  be  six  times  as  great  as  from 
the  fifty-bushel  crop.  In  other  words,  100  bushels  of  corn 
from  one  acre  would  yield  practically  the  same  profit  as 
fifty  bushels  per  acre  from  six  acres,  simply  because  it 
requires  the  first  forty  bushels  from  each  acre  to  pay  for 
the  fixed  charges  or  regular  expense. 

"  It  is  not  the  amount  of  crop  the  farmer  handles,  but 
the  amount  of  actual  profit  that  determines  his  pros- 
perity. It  requires  profit  to  build  the  new  home  or  re- 
pair the  old  one,  to  provide  the  home  with  the  comforts 
and  conveniences  that  are  now  to  be  had  in  the  country 
as  well  as  in  the  city;  to  send  the  boys  and  girls  to  col- 
lege ;  to  provide  for  the  expense  of  travel  and  the  luxuries 
of  the  home." 

Percy  stopped  himself  with  an  apology. 

"  I  hope  you  will  pardon  me,  Miss  West.  I  forget  that 
this  subject  may  be  of  no  interest  to  you,  and  I  have 
completely  monopolized  the  conversation." 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  told  me  so  much,"  she  replied. 
"  I  am  deeply  interested  in  what  you  have  been  saying. 
I  never  realized  that  agriculture  could  involve  such  very 
important  questions  in  regard  to  our  national  prosperity. 
I  only  know  that  our  farm  has  furnished  us  with  a  living, 
but  there  has  been  very  little  of  what  you  call  profit.  We 
children  could  never  have  gone  away  to  school  except  that 
we  were  enabled  to  take  advantage  of  some  unusual  op- 
portunities. My  brother  almost  earned  his  expenses  as 
commissary  in  a  boarding  club  at  college.  He  felt  that 
he  could  not  come  home  for  Thanksgiving,  because  he  had 
a  chance  to  earn  something,  and  I  have  missed  him  so 


FARMER  OR  PROFESSOR  197 

much.  Most  farmers  get  barely  enough  from  their  farms 
in  these  parts  to  furnish  them  a  modest  living  and  pay 
their  taxes." 

"  That  reminds  me  of  your  statement  that  farming  is 
the  last  thing  that  you  would  expect  anyone  to  under- 
take. In  a  large  sense  that  is  in  accordance  with  the 
history  of  all  great  agricultural  countries.  After  the 
great  wave  of  spoliation  of  the  land  has  passed,  and 
the  farmers  reach  a  condition  under  which  they  need  most 
of  what  they  produce  for  their  own  consumption,  the 
parasites  are  themselves  forced  to  produce  their  own  food. 
The  lands  become  divided  into  smaller  holdings,  and  the 
agricultural  inhabitants  increase  rapidly  in  proportion 
to  the  urban  population  which  must  depend  upon  the 
profits  from  secondary  pursuits  for  a  living.  Thus 
ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  three  hundred  million  people  of 
India  belong  principally  to  the  agricultural  classes,  and 
the  farms  of  India  average  about  two  or  three  acres  in 
size.  Farming  there  is  in  no  sense  a  profit-yielding  busi- 
nes,  but  it  is  only  a  means  of  existence.  The  people  live 
upon  what  they  raise,  so  far  as  they  can,  although,  as 
you  must  know,  India  is  almost  never  free  from  famine. 
In  Russia,  the  situation  is  but  little  better,  for  famine 
follows  if  the  yield  of  wheat  falls  two  bushels  below  the 
average.  Special  agents  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  report  that 
at  least  one  famine  year  occurs  in  each  five-year  period, 
and  sometimes  even  two;  that  the  famine  years  are  so 
frequent  they  are  recognized  as  a  permanent  feature  of 
Russian  agriculture." 

"  But  couldn't  those  poor  starving  people  do  some 
other  kind  of  work  and  thus  earn  a  better  living?  "  asked 
Adelaide. 


198  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  No.  Agriculture  is  the  only  hope,"  said  Percy. 
"  The  soil  is  the  breast  of  Mother  Earth,  from  which 
her  children  must  always  draw  their  nourishment,  or  per- 
ish. It  is  the  *  last  thing,'  as  you  truly  said.  Aside  from 
hunting  and  fishing,  there  is  no  source  of  food  except  the 
soil,  and,  when  this  is  insufficient  for  the  people  who  pro- 
duce it  in  the  country,  God  pity  the  poor  people  who  live 
in  the  cities. 

"  The  American  farmer  has  learned  well  the  art  of  agri- 
culture in  the  hard  school  of  experience,  but  the  science  of 
agriculture  is  almost  unknown  to  him ;  and  unknown  not 
only  to  the  farmers  and  landowners,  but  also  unknown  to 
the  statesmen,  unknown  to  the  local  public  officials,  un- 
known to  the  teachers  of  the  common  schools,  and  un- 
known to  the  preachers,  to  the  merchants,  to  the  grain 
dealers,  and  to  the  average  banker.  All  these  people  must 
learn  the  science  of  agriculture,  in  order  to  exert  an  in- 
fluence which  they  must  soon  exert  upon  the  practice  of  ag- 
riculture, if  systems  of  positive  soil  improvement  are  to  be 
generally  adopted  in  this  country  before  it  is  forever  too 
late.  These  men  and  women  of  trained  minds  can  learn 
the  essential  science  of  the  soil  by  studying  the  subject  an 
hour  a  day  for  a  single  month ;  and  they  can  then  impart 
much  needed  information  to  the  farmers  and  landowners 
whom  they  meet  face  to  face,  week  by  week. 

"  The  boastful  statement  sometimes  made  that  the 
American  landowner  has  already  become  a  scientific  farmer 
is  as  erroneous  as  it  is  optimistic.  Such  statements  are 
based  upon  a  few  selected  examples  or  rare  illustrations 
and  not  upon  any  adequate  knowledge  of  general  farm 
practice. 

"  But  let  us  not  talk  of  this  more.  I  ought  not  to 
have  taken  up  the  time  of  our  ride  through  this 
beautiful  scenery  with  a  subject  which  tends  always 


FARMER  OR  PROFESSOR  199 

toward  the  serious.  The  leaves  are  all  gone  in  New  Eng- 
land, but  here  they  have  only  taken  on  their  most  beauti- 
ful colors.  '  What  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June  ? '  could 
now  well  be  answered,  '  a  day  in  November  in  Piedmont 
Virginia.* 

"  Do  you  know  if  your  father  received  a  letter  for  me 
from  the  chemist  to  whom  I  sent  the  soil  samples?  " 

"  Yes,  it  came  in  Wednesday's  mail,  and  there  is  a  let- 
ter from  the  University  of  Illinois  and  two  others  that 
Grandma  says  must  be  from  a  lady.  Papa  says  he  is 
anxious  to  know  what  results  would  be  found  in  the  chem- 
ist's report.  May  I  listen  while  you  tell  papa  about  it? 
Indeed,  I  am  extremely  interested  to  know  if  anything 
can  be  done  to  make  our  farm  produce  such  crops  as  it 
used  to  when  grandmother  was  a  little  girl." 

"  Still  I  fear  you  will  find  it  a  very  tiresome  subject," 
said  Percy.  "It  is,  as  a  rule,  not  an  easy  matter  to 
adopt  a  system  of  permanent  improvement  on  land  that 
has  been  depleted  by  a  century  or  more  of  exhaustive 
husbandry,  but  you  will  be  very  welcome  not  only  to  lis- 
ten but  to  counsel  also.  My  mother  can  measure  difficul- 
ties in  advance  better  than  most  men ;  and  I  believe  it  is 
true  that  women  will  deliberately  plan  and  follow  a  course 
involving  greater  hardship  and  privation  than  men  would 
undertake.  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  man  doing  what 
my  mother  has  done  for  me." 

Adelaide  glanced  at  Percy  as  he  spoke  of  his  mother. 
Something  in  his  words  or  voice  seemed  to  reveal  to  her  a 
depth  of  feeling,  *  wealth  of  affection,  akin  to  reverence, 
such  as  she  had  never  recognized  before. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON. 

WILKES  was  at  the  side  gate  to  meet  Adelaide 
and  Percy,  and  the  grandmother  stood  at  the 
door  as  they  reached  the  veranda. 

"Lucky  for  us  you  got  back  before  the  Thanksgiving 
scraps  are  all  gone,"  she  said  to  Percy,  "  but  I  suppose 
even  our  Thanksgiving  fare  will  be  poor  picking  after 
you've  been  living  in  Washington  and  Boston." 

"  Even  the  Thanksgiving  dinner  on  the  boat  was  not 
equal  to  this,"  said  Percy,  as  they  sat  down  to  the  table 
loaded  with  such  an  abundance  of  good  things  as  is  rarely 
seen  except  on  the  farmer's  table.  The  "scraps,"  if  such 
there  were,  had  no  appearance  of  being  left-overs,  and 
there  was  a  monster  turkey,  browned  to  perfection  and 
sizzling  hot,  placed  before  Mr.  West  ready  for  the  carv- 
ing knife. 

Percy  had  opened  the  letter  from  the  chemist,  but  said 
to  Mr.  West  that  it  would  take  him  an  hour  or  more  to 
compute  the  results  to  the  form  of  the  actual  elements 
and  reduce  them  to  pounds  per  acre  in  order  to  make  pos- 
sible a  direct  comparison  between  the  requirements  of 
crops,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  invoice  of  the  soil  and  ap- 
plication of  plant  food  in  manure  and  fertilizers,  on  the 
other  hand. 

"  Please  let  me  help  you  make  the  computations,"  said 
Adelaide,  much  to  the  surprise  of  her  parents,  who  knew 
that  she  took  no  interest  in  affairs  pertaining  to  farming. 
"  I  like  mathematics  and  will  promise  not  to  make  any 

800 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  201 

mistakes  if  you  will  tell  me  how  to  do  some  of  the  figur- 
ing." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Percy.  "  With  your  help  it  will 
take  only  half  the  time  that  I  should  require  alone." 

This  proved  to  be  correct,  for  in  half  an  hour  after  sup- 
per they  had  the  results  in  simplified  form.  Even  the 
mother  and  grandmother  joined  the  circle  as  Percy  began 
to  discuss  the  results  with  Mr.  West. 

"  Now  here  is  the  invoice,"  said  Percy,  "  of  the  surface 
soil  from  an  acre  of  land  where  we  collected  the  first  com- 
posite sample, —  the  land  which  you  said  had  not  been 
cropped  since  you  could  remember.  This  soil  contains 
plant  food  as  follows : 

1,440  pounds  of  nitrogen 

380  pounds  of  phosphorus 
15,760  pounds  of  potassium 

3,340  pounds  of  magnesium 
10,420  pounds  of  calcium 

"  I'd  like  to  know  how  these  amounts  compare  with 
what  your  Illinois  soil  contains,"  said  Mr.  West. 

"We  have  several  different  kinds  of  soil  in  Illinois," 
replied  Percy.  "  The  common  corn-belt  prairie  soil  is 
called  brown  silt  loam.  It  contains,  as  an  average,  5000 
pounds  of  nitrogen  and  1200  pounds  of  phosphorus,  or 
nearly  four  times  as  much  of  each  of  those  two  very  im- 
portant elements  as  this  Virginia  soil,  which  you  say  is  too 
poor  to  cultivate. 

"  I  wrote  to  the  Illinois  Experiment  Station  before  I 
left  Washington  to  see  if  I  could  get  the  average  compo- 
sition of  the  heavier  prairie  soil,  which  occupies  the  very 
flat  areas  that  were  originally  swampy,  and  one  of  the 
letters  you  had  received  for  me  gives  8000  pounds  of  ni- 


802  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

trogen  and  £000  pounds  of  phosphorus  as  the  general 
average  for  that  soil.  That  is  our  most  productive  land, 
and  it  contains  about  five  times  as  much  of  these  two  very 
important  elements  as  your  poorest  land. 

"  Our  more  common  Illinois  prairie  contains  about 
85,000  pounds  of  potassium,  9,000  pounds  of  magnesium 
and  11,000  pounds  of  calcium.  This  is  more  than  twice 
as  much  potassium  and  nearly  three  times  as  much  mag- 
nesium as  in  your  poorest  land,  but  the  calcium  is  almost 
exactly  the  same  in  your  soil  as  in  ours.  However,  as 
you  will  remember,  your  soil  is  distinctly  acid  and  conse- 
quently markedly  in  need  of  lime,  the  magnesium  and  cal- 
cium evidently  being  contained  in  part  in  the  form  of  acid 
silicates,  with  no  carbonates ;  whereas,  our  brown  silt  loam 
is  a  neutral  soil  and  our  black  clay  loam  contains  much 
calcium  carbonate,  the  same  compound  as  pure  limestone." 

"  I  am  anxious  to  know  about  our  best  land,"  said  Mr. 
West.  "  What  did  the  chemist  find  in  the  soil  from  the 
slope  where  we  get  the  best  corn  after  breaking  up  the 
old  pastures  ?  " 

"  He  found  the  following  amounts  in  the  surface  soil," 
said  Percy. 

800  pounds  of  nitrogen 

1,660  pounds  of  phosphorus 

34,100  pounds  of  potassium 

8,500  pounds  of  magnesium 

13,100  pounds  of  calcium 

"Rich  in  everything  but  nitrogen,"  Percy  continued, 
"  richer  than  our  common  prairies  in  phosphorus  and 
about  as  rich  in  potassium  and  magnesium  and  cal- 
cium ;  but  very,  very  poor  in  nitrogen.  Legume  plants 
ought  to  grow  well  on  that  land,  because  the  minerals  are 
present  in  abundance,  and,  while  lack  of  nitrogen  in  the 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  203 

soil  will  limit  the  yield  of  all  grains  and  grasses,  there  is 
no  nitrogen  limit  for  the  legume  plants  if  infected  with 
the  proper  nitrogen-fixing  bacteria,  provided,  of  course, 
that  the  soil  is  not  acid.  You  will  remember,  however, 
that  even  this  sloping  land  is  more  or  less  acid,  although 
here  and  there  we  found  pieces  of  undecomposed  limsetone. 
With  a  liberal  use  of  ground  limestone,  any  legumes  suited 
to  this  soil  and  climate  ought  to  grow  luxuriantly  on 
those  slopes.'* 

"  That  reminds  me  that  we  are  greatly  troubled  with 
Japan  clover  on  those  slopes,"  said  Mr.  West.  "  Of 
course,  it  makes  good  pasture  for  a  few  months,  but  it 
doesn't  come  so  early  in  the  spring  as  blue  grass  and  it 
is  killed  with  the  first  heavy  frost  in  the  fall.  We  like 
blue  grass  much  better  for  that  reason,  but  when  we  seed 
down  for  meadow  and  pasture,  the  Japan  clover  always 
crowds  out  the  timothy  and  blue  grass  on  those  slopes." 

"  And  when  you  plow  under  the  Japan  clover,  you  get 
one  or  two  good  crops  of  grain,"  said  Percy,  "  because 
this  clover  has  stored  up  some  much  needed  nitrogen  and 
the  soil  is  rich  in  all  other  necessary  elements.  Have  you 
ever  tried  alfalfa  on  that  kind  of  land?  That  is  a  crop 
that  ought  to  do  well  there,  especially  if  limestone  were 
applied." 

"  Yes,  I  have  tried  alfalfa,"  replied  Mr.  West,  "  and 
I  tried  it  on  a  strip  that  ran  across  one  of  these  steep 
slopes;  but  it  failed  completely,  and,  as  I  remember  it,  it 
was  poorer  on  that  hillside  than  on  the  more  level  land." 

"Did  you  inoculate  it?"  Percy  asked. 

"Inoculate  it?  No.  I  didn't  do  anything  to  it,  but 
just  sow  it  the  same  as  I  sow  red  clover." 

"  What  does  it  mean  to  inoculate  it  ?  "  asked  Adelaide. 

"  It  means  to  put  some  bugs  on  it,"  said  the  grand- 
mother, "  some  germs  or  microbes,  or  whatever  they  are 


204  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

called.  Don't  you  remember,  Adelaide,  that  I  told  you 
about  that  when  I  read  it  in  the  magazine  a  while  ago? 
Don't  you  remember  that  somebody  was  making  it  and 
a  man  could  carry  enough  in  his  vest  pocket  to  fertilize 
an  acre  and  he  wanted  $£  a  package?  I  was  much  inter- 
ested in  it,  but  Charles  said  that  $1.50  a  hundred  was 
more  than  he  could  afford  to  pay  for  fertilizer,  and  he 
didn't  care  to  pay  $2  for  a  vest  pocket  package.  Isn't 
that  the  stuff,  Mr.  Johnston?  " 

"  It  listens  like  it,  as  the  Swedes  say,"  said  Percy, 
"but  the  advertisements  of  these  germ  cultures  put  out 
by  commercial  interests  are  usually  very  misleading.  The 
safest  and  best  and  least  expensive  method  of  inoculating 
a  field  for  alfalfa  is  to  use  infected  soil  taken  from  some 
old  alfalfa  field  or  from  a  patch  of  ground  where  the 
common  sweet  clover,  or  mellilotus,  has  been  growing  for 
several  years.  I  saw  the  sweet  clover  growing  along  the 
railroad  near  Montplain,  and  there  is  one  patch  on  the 
roadside  right  where  —  when  you  enter  the  valley  on  the 
way  to  the  station." 

"  Right  where  Adelaide  smashed  that  nigger's  eye  with 
her  heel  and  helped  Mr.  Johnston  capture  them  both," 
broke  in  the  grandmother.  "  That's  the  only  good  thing 
I  can  say  for  her  peg-heeled  shoes." 

Adelaide  colored  and  Percy  now  understood  what  had 
been  a  puzzle  to  him. 

"  The  same  bacteria,"  he  went  on  quickly,  "  live  upon 
both  the  sweet  clover  and  the  alfalfa,  or  at  least  they  are 
interchangeable.  These  bacteria  are  not  a  fertilizer  in 
any  ordinary  sense,  but  they  are  more  in  the  nature  of  a 
disease,  a  kind  of  tuberculosis,  as  it  were;  except  that 
they  do  much  more  good  than  harm.  They  attack  the 
very  tender  young  roots  of  the  alfalfa  and  feed  upon  the 
nutritious  sap,  taking  from  it  the  phosphorus  and  other 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  205 

minerals  and  also  the  sugar  or  other  carbohydrates  needed 
for  their  own  nourishment,  since  they  have  no  power  to 
secure  carbon  and  oxygen  from  the  air,  as  is  done  by  all 
plants  with  green  leaves.  On  the  other  hand,  these  bac- 
teria have  power  to  take  the  free  nitrogen  of  the  air, 
which  enters  the  pores  of  the  soil  to  some  extent,  and 
cause  it  to  combine  with  food  materials  which  are  secured 
from  the  alfalfa  sap,  and  thus  the  bacteria  secure  for 
themselves  both  nitrogen  and  the  other  essential  plant 
foods.  The  alfalfa  root  or  rootlet  becomes  enlarged  at 
the  point  attacked  by  the  bacteria,  and  a  sort  of  wart 
or  tubercle  is  formed,  which  resembles  a  tiny  potato,  as 
large  as  clover  seed  on  clover  or  alfalfa,  and,  singularly, 
about  as  large  as  peas  on  cowpeas  or  soy  beans.  On 
plants  that  are  sparsely  infected,  these  tubercles  develop 
to  a  large  size  and  often  in  clusters.  While  the  bacteria 
themselves  are  extremely  small  and  can  be  seen  only  by 
the  aid  of  a  powerful  microscope,  the  tubercles  in  which 
they  live  are  easily  seen,  and  they  are  sufficient  to  enable 
us  to  know  whether  the  plants  are  infected." 

"I  wish  you  would  tell  me  the  difference  between  the 
words  inoculated  and  infected,"  said  Adelaide. 

"  Inoculated  is  used  in  the  active  sense  and  infected  in 
the  passive,"  said  Percy.  "  Thus  the  red  clover  growing 
in  the  field  is  infected  if  there  are  tubercles  on  its  roots, 
although  it  may  never  have  been  inoculated;  and  we  in- 
oculate alfalfa  because  it  would  not  be  likely  to  become 
infected  without  direct  inoculation. 

"  Under  favorable  conditions,"  continued  Percy,  "  these 
bacteria  multiply  with  tremendous  rapidity,  somewhat  as 
the  germs  of  small  pox  or  yellow  fever  multiply  if  allowed 
to  do  so.  A  single  tubercle  may  contain  a  million  germs, 
which  if  distributed  uniformly  over  an  acre  would  furnish 
more  than  twenty  bacteria  for  every  square  foot." 


206  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"There,  Charles,"  said  the  grandmother,  "wouldn't  a 
vest-pocketful  of  those  bugs  or  germs  be  a  big  enough 
dose  for  one  acre?  " 

"  Well,  but  they're  not  a  fertilizer,  Mother,"  said  Mr. 
West,  "  and  besides  Mr.  Johnston  says  it  is  better  to  use 
the  infected  sweet  clover  soil  and  there  was  no  need  of  pay- 
ing $2  an  acre  for  something  we  knew  nothing  about,  and 
especially  on  land  that  is  not  worth  more  than  $2  an 
acre." 

"  I  don't  care  what  it's  worth,"  she  replied ;  "  some  of 
it  cost  your  grandfather  $68  an  acre,  and  it  will  never 
be  sold  for  any  $2  while  I  have  any  say  so  about  it." 

They  waited  for  Percy  to  proceed. 

"  The  individual  bacteria  are  very  short-lived,"  he 
continued,  "  and  products  of  decay  soon  begin  to  ac- 
cumulate in  the  tubercles.  These  products  contain,  in 
combined  form,  nitrogen  which  the  bacteria  have  taken 
from  the  air,  and  in  this  form  it  is  taken  from  the  tuber- 
cles and  absorbed  through  the  roots  into  the  host  plant 
and  thus  serves  as  a  source  of  nitrogen  for  all  of  the  ag- 
ricultural legumes. 

"  It  should  be  kept  in  mind,  of  course,  that  the  red 
clover  has  one  kind  of  nitrogen-fixing  bacteria,  that  the 
cowpea  has  a  different  kind,  and  that  the  soy  bean  bac- 
teria are  still  different,  while  a  fourth  kind  lives  on  the 
roots  of  alfalfa  and  sweet  clover." 

"  How  much  infected  sweet  clover  soil  would  I  need  to 
inoculate  an  acre  of  land  for  alfalfa  ?  "  asked  Mr.  West. 

"  If  the  soil  is  thoroughly  infected,  a  hundred  pounds 
to  the  acre  will  do  very  well  if  applied  at  the  same  time 
the  alfalfa  seed  is  sown  and  immediately  harrowed  in  with 
the  seed.  If  allowed  to  lie  for  several  hours  or  days  ex- 
posed to  the  sunshine  after  being  spread  over  the  land, 
the  bacteria  will  be  destroyed,  for,  like  most  bacteria, 


Tubercles  about  as  large  as  peas  on  the  roots  of  the  cowpea. 
One  tubercle  may  contain  a  million  germs. 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  207 

such  as  those  which  lurk  in  milk  pails  to  sour  the  milk, 
they  are  killed  by  the  sunshine." 

"  That's  right,"  said  the  grandmother.  "  That's  the 
way  to  sterilize  milk  pails  and  pans  and  crocks.  I  like 
crocks  better  than  pans.  They  don't  have  any  sort  of 
joints  to  dig  out." 

"  Of  course,"  continued  Percy,  "  a  wagon  load  of  in- 
fected soil  will  make  a  more  perfect  inoculation  than  a 
hundred  pounds,  and  where  it  costs  nothing  but  the  haul- 
ing it  is  well  to  use  a  liberal  amount." 

"How  deep  should  it  be  taken?  "  asked  Mr.  West. 

"  About  the  same  depth  as  you  would  plow.  The  tu- 
bercles are  mostly  within  six  or  eight  inches  of  the  sur- 
face. The  bacteria  depend  upon  the  nitrogen  of  the  air 
and  this  must  enter  the  surface  soil.  Sometimes  in  wet 
weather  the  tubercles  can  be  found  almost  at  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  and  when  the  ground  cracks  one  can  often 
find  tubercles  sticking  out  in  the  cracks  an  inch  or  two 
beneath  the  surface,  but  protected  from  direct  sunshine. 

"  These  bacteria  have  power  to  furnish  very  large 
amounts  of  nitrogen  to  such  a  crop  as  alfalfa.  The  Illi- 
nois Station  reports  having  grown  eight  and  one-half 
tons  of  alfalfa  per  acre  in  one  season.  It  was  harvested 
in  four  cuttings.  The  hay  itself  was  worth  at  least  $6 
a  ton  above  all  expenses,  which  would  bring  $51  an  acre 
net  profit  for  one  year.  Of  course  this  was  above  the 
average,  which  is  only  about  four  and  one-half  tons  over 
a  series  of  several  years.  But  suppose  you  can  save  only 
three  tons  and  get  $6  a  ton  net  for  it,  as  you  could  easily 
do  by  feeding  it  to  your  cattle  and  sheep, —  that  would 
bring  $18  an  acre,  or  six  per  cent,  interest  on  $300  land. 
I  am  altogether  confident  that  this  could  be  done  on  your 
sloping  hillsides,  with  their  rich  supplies  of  phosphorus 
and  other  mineral  foods,  provided,  of  course,  that  you  use 


208  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

plenty  of  ground  limestone  and  thoroughly  inoculate  the 
soil." 

"Well,  I  shall  certainly  try  alfalfa  again,"  said  Mr. 
West ;  "  and,  if  I  can  grow  such  crops  of  alfalfa  as  you 
think  on  the  hillsides,  I  can  have  much  more  farm  manure 
produced  for  the  improvement  of  the  rest  of  the  land. 
By  the  way,  what  did  that  chemist  find  in  that  sample 
you  took  of  the  other  land  where  it  does  not  wash  so 
much  as  on  the  steeper  slopes  ?  " 

"  He  found  the  following : 

1,030  pounds  of  nitrogen 
1,270  pounds  of  phosphorus 

16,500  pounds  of  potassium 
7,460  pounds  of  magnesium 

16,100  pounds  of  calcium 

"  Well,  the  phosphorus  is  not  so  low,"  said  Mr.  West. 

"  Fully  equal  to  that  in  our  $150  Illinois  prairie,"  re- 
plied Percy,  "  and  again  the  calcium  is  more  than  ours, 
with  magnesium  not  far  below,  and  potassium  half  our 
supply.  Nitrogen  is  plainly  the  most  serious  problem 
on  most  of  this  farm,  and  limestone  and  legumes  must 
solve  that  problem  if  properly  used." 

"  Do  you  think  this  land  could  be  made  as  valuable 
as  the  Illinois  land  just  by  a  liberal  use  of  limestone  and 
legumes  ?  "  asked  Adelaide. 

"  I  should  have  some  doubt  about  that,"  Percy  replied. 
"  Your  very  level  uplands  that  neither  lose  nor  receive 
material  from  surface  washing  are  very  deficient  in  phos- 
phorus and  much  poorer  than  ours  in  potassium  and  mag- 
nesium; and  your  undulating  and  steeply  sloping  lands 
are  more  or  less  broken,  with  many  rock  outcrops  on  the 
points  and  some  impassable  gullies,  which,  as  a  rule,  com- 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  209 

pel  the  cultivation  of  the  land  in  small  irregular  fields. 
A  three-cornered  field  of  from  two  to  fifteen  acres  can 
never  have  quite  the  same  value  per  acre  as  the  land  where 
forty  or  eighty  acres  of  corn  can  be  grown  in  a  body  with 
no  necessity  of  omitting  a  single  hill.  Then  there  is  some 
unavoidable  loss  from  surface  washing,  so  that  to  main- 
tain the  supply  of  organic  matter  and  nitrogen  will  re- 
quire a  larger  use  of  legumes  than  on  level  land  of  equal 
richness.  In  adition  to  this  is  the  initial  difference  in 
humus  content.  This  is  well  measured  by  the  nitrogen 
content.  While  your  soil  contains  eight  hundred  pounds 
of  nitrogen  on  the  steeper  slopes  and  one  thousand  pounds 
on  the  more  gently  undulating  areas,  ours  contains  five 
thousand  pounds  in  the  brown  silt  loam  and  eight  thou- 
sand pounds  in  the  heavier  black  clay  loam.  This  means 
that  our  Illinois  prairie  soil  contains  from  five  to  ten 
times  as  much  humus,  or  organic  matter,  as  your  best 
upland  soil.  To  supply  this  difference  in  humus  would 
require  the  addition  of  from  four  hundred  to  eight  hun- 
dred tons  per  acre  of  average  farm  manure,  or  the  plow- 
ing under  of  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  tons  of  air-dry 
clover.  This  represents  the  great  reserve  of  the  Illinois 
prairie  soils  above  the  total  supplies  remaining  in  your 
soils. 

"  Our  farmers  are  still  producing  crops  very  largely 
by  drawing  on  this  reserve.  Of  course,  most  of  this  great 
supply  of  humus  is  very  old.  It  represents  the  organic 
residues  most  resistant  to  decomposition;  and,  where  corn 
and  oats  are  grown  exclusively,  the  soil  has  reached  a 
condition  on  many  farms  under  which  the  decomposition 
of  the  reserve  organic  matter  is  so  slow  that  the  nitrogen 
liberated  from  its  own  decay  and  the  minerals  liberated 
from  the  soil  by  the  action  of  the  decomposition  products 
are  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  requirements  of  large  crops, 


210  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

and  for  this  reason  alone  some  of  our  lands  that  are  still 
rich  are  said  to  be  run  down;  but  they  only  require  a 
moderate  use  of  clover  or  farm  manure  or  other  fresh  and 
active  organic  matter  to  at  once  restore  their  productive- 
ness to  a  point  almost  equal  to  the  yields  from  the  virgin 
soil.  Some  Illinois  farmers  who  have  discovered  this  ap- 
parent restoration  have  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  have  solved  the  problem  of  permanently  maintaining 
the  fertility  of  the  soil;  and  I  judge  from  a  remark  made 
by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  that  some  Iowa  farmers 
have  the  same  mistaken  notions. 

"  These  fresh  supplies  of  active  organic  matter  serve 
primarily  as  soil  stimulants,  hastening  the  liberation  of 
nitrogen  from  the  organic  reserve  and  of  minerals  from 
the  inorganic  soil  materials. 

"  Where  one  of  the  Eastern  farmers  has  managed  a 
farm  under  the  rotation  system  with  the  occasional  use 
of  clover  or  light  applications  of  farm  manure, —  where 
this  has  been  continued  until  the  great  reserve  is  largely 
gone,  and  the  phosphorus  supply  greatly  depleted,  then 
the  land  is  truly  run  down,  but  not  until  then. 

"  Finally,  land-plaster  and  quicklime,  still  more  pow- 
erful soil  stimulants,  are  often  brought  into  the  system 
to  bring  about  a  more  complete  exhaustion  of  the  soil  re- 
serves, and  lastly  the  use  of  small  amounts  of  high-priced 
commercial  fertilizers  serves  to  put  the  land  in  suitable 
condition  for  ultimate  abandonment." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  commercial  fertilizers  injure  the 
soil?  "  asked  Mr.  West. 

"  Well,  to  some  extent  they  injure  the  soil  because  they 
tend  to  destroy  the  limestone  and  increase  the  acidity 
of  the  soil,  and  also  because  they  contain  more  or  less 
manufactured  land-plaster  and  thus  serve  as  soil  stimu- 
lants ;  but  the  chief  point  to  keep  in  mind  concerning  the 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  211 

use  of  the  common  so-called  complete  commercial  fer- 
tilizer is  that  they  are  too  expensive  to  permit  their  use 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  positively  enrich  the  soil.  Thus 
the  farmer  may  apply  two  hundred  pounds  of  such  a  fer- 
tilizer at  a  cost  of  $3.00  an  acre,  and  then  harvest  a  crop 
of  wheat,  two  crops  of  hay,  pasture  for  another  year  or 
two,  plow  up  the  ground  for  corn,  apply  another  two  hun- 
dred pounds  for  the  corn  crop,  follow  with  a  crop  of  oats, 
and  then  repeat.  He  thus  harvests  five  crops  and  pas- 
tures a  year  or  two  and  applies  perhaps  four  hundred 
pounds  of  fertilizer  at  a  cost  of  $6.00. 

"  As  an  average  of  the  most  common  commercial  fer- 
tilizers sold  to  the  farmers  in  the  Eastern  and  Southern 
States,  the  four  hundred  pounds  would  add  to  the  soil 
seven  pounds  of  nitrogen,  fourteen  pounds  of  phosphorus 
and  seven  pounds  of  potassium,  while  a  single  fifty-bushel 
crop  of  corn  will  remove  from  the  soil  ten  times  as  much 
nitrogen,  five  times  as  much  potassium,  and  nearly  as 
much  phosphorus  as  the  total  amounts  applied  in  this 
six-year  or  seven-year  rotation. 

"  In  this  manner  the  farmer  extends  the  time  during 
which  he  can  take  from  the  soil  crops  whose  value  ex- 
ceed their  cost.  He  applies  only  one-fourth  or  possibly 
one-half  as  much  of  the  most  deficient  element  as  the  crops 
harvested  require,  and  thus  he  continues  for  a  longer 
time  to  'work  the  land  for  all  that's  in  it.' ' 

"Well,  isn't  that  the  limit?"  said  Adelaide,  with  em- 
phasis on  the  "  isn't,"  for  which  she  received  a  disapprov- 
ing look  from  her  mother,  so  far  as  her  almost  angel-face 
could  give  such  a  look. 

"  So  far  as  human  ingenuity  has  yet  devised,"  replied 
Percy,  "  this  system  appears  to  be  the  limit ;  but  this 
limit  has  not  yet  been  reached  on  any  Westover  soil.  If 
anyone  can  devise  a  method  for  extending  this  limit  he 


212  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

should  apply  it  on  a  type  of  soil  covering  more  than  two- 
fifths  of  the  total  area  of  St.  Mary  County,  and  more 
than  45,000  acres  of  Prince  George  County,  Maryland, 
some  of  which  almost  adjoins  the  District  of  Columbia. 
This  soil  has  been  reduced  in  fertility  until  it  contains 
only  one-third  as  much  phosphorus  as  your  poorest  land. 
I  found  a  Western  man  who  had  come  down  to  Maryland 
a  few  years  ago.  He  saw  that  beautiful  almost  level  up- 
land soil,  and  it  looked  so  good  to  him  that  he  bought  and 
kept  buying  until  he  had  *  squared  out '  a  tract  of  eleven 
hundred  acres.  He  still  had  left  money  enough  to  fence 
the  farm  and  to  put  the  buildings  in  good  repair.  He 
was  a  live-stock  farmer  from  the  West  who  just  knew 
from  his  own  experience  and  from  that  of  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  in  the  use  of  a  little  clover  or  farm  manure 
in  unlocking  the  great  reserves  of  an  almost  virgin  soil, 
that  all  his  Maryland  farm  needed  was  clover  seed  and 
live  stock.  Sheep  especially  he  knew  to  be  great  produc- 
ers of  fertility. 

"  He  sowed  the  clover  and  grass  seed  and  they  ger- 
minated well.  He  even  secured  a  fine  catch,  but  it  failed 
to  hold,  as  we  say  out  West.  He  tried  again  and  again, 
and  failed  as  often  as  he  tried.  He  showed  me  his  best 
clover  on  a  field  that  had  received  some  manure  made 
from  feed  part  of  which  was  purchased,  and  that  had  also 
received  five  hundred  pounds  per  acre  of  hydrated  lime, 
which  he  was  finally  persuaded  to  use,  after  becoming 
convinced  that  clover-growing  on  old  abandoned  land  was 
not  exactly  as  easy  as  clover-growing  on  a  'run-down ' 
farm  of  almost  virgin  soil  in  the  West." 

"And  was  the  clover  good  after  that  treatment?" 
asked  Mr.  West. 

"  No,  not  good,"  said  Percy,  "  but  in  some  places  where 
the  manure  had  been  applied  to  the  high  points,  as  is  the 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  213 

custom  of  the  Western  farmer,  the  yield  of  clover,  weeds 
and  foul  grass  together  must  have  been  nearly  a  half  ton 
to  the  acre.  Fortunately  he  waited  to  fully  stock  his 
farm  with  cattle  and  sheep  until  he  should  have  some  as- 
surance of  producing  sufficient  feed  to  keep  them  for  a 
time  at  least,  instead  of  making  the  common  mistake  of 
the  less  experienced  farmer  who  goes  to  the  country  from 
the  city,  and  who  imagines  that,  if  he  has  plenty  of  stock 
on  the  farm,  they  must  of  necessity  produce  abundance  of 
manure  with  which  to  enrich  his  land  for  the  production 
of  abundant  crops." 

"  Well,  now  you'll  have  to  show  me,"  said  the  grand- 
mother. "  To  my  way  of  thinking  that's  a  pretty  good 
kind  of  a  notion  for  a  farmer  to  have,  and  I'd  like  to  know 
what's  wrong  with  it." 

Again  a  shadow  seemed  to  cross  the  sweet  face  as  the 
mother's  glance  turned  from  grandma  to  Adelaide. 

"  The  system  has  some  merit,"  replied  Percy,  "  but  it 
starts  at  the  wrong  point  in  the  circle.  Cattle  and  sheep 
must  first  have  feed  before  they  can  produce  the  fertilizer 
with  which  to  enrich  the  soil ;  and  people  who  would  raise 
stock  on  poor  land  should  always  produce  a  good  supply 
of  food  before  they  procure  the  stock  requiring  to  be  fed. 
There  is  probably  no  more  direct  route  to  financial  dis- 
aster than  for  one  to  insist  upon  over-stocking  a  farm 
that  is  essentially  worn  out." 

"But  doesn't  pasturing  enrich  the  soil?"  asked  the 
grandmother. 

"  Pasturing  may  enrich  the  soil  only  in  a  single  ele- 
ment of  plant  food,"  said  Percy.  "  In  all  other  elements 
simple  pasturing  must  always  contribute  toward  soil  de- 
pletion. If  the  pasture  herbage  contains  a  sufficient  pro- 
portion of  legume  plants  so  that  the  fixation  of  free  ni- 
trogen exceeds  the  utilization  of  nitrogen  in  animal 


214  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

growth,  then  the  soil  will  be  enriched  in  that  element,  al- 
though with  the  same  growth  of  plants  it  would  be  en- 
riched more  rapidly  without  pasturing;  for  animals  are 
not  made  out  of  nothing.  Meat,  milk  and  wool  are  all 
highly  nitrogenous  products. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  no  amount  of  pasturing  can  add 
to  the  soil  a  single  pound  of  any  one  of  the  six  mineral 
elements ;  and  phosphorus,  which  is  normally  the  most 
limited  of  all  these  elements,  is  abstracted  from  the  soil 
and  retained  by  the  animals  in  very  considerable  amounts. 
As  an  average  one-fourth  of  the  phosphorus  contained 
in  the  food  consumed  is  retained  in  the  animal  products, 
especially  in  bone,  flesh  and  milk." 

"  Well,  I  didn't  know  that  milk  contained  phosphorus," 
said  Mr.  West,  "  although  I  did  know,  of  course,  that 
phosphorus  must  be  contained  in  bone.  " 

"  But,  as  you  know,"  said  Percy,  "  milk  is  the  only  food 
of  young  animals,  and  they  must  secure  their  bone  food 
from  the  milk.  Furthermore,  the  complete  analysis  of 
milk  shows  that  it  contains  very  considerable  quantities. 
There  are  also  records  of  digestion  experiments  in  which 
less  than  one-half  of  the  phosphorus  in  the  food  consumed 
was  recovered  in  the  total  manural  excrements.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  is  a  time  in  the  life  of  the  young 
mother,  as  with  the  two-year-old  cow,  for  example,  when 
she  must  abstract  from  the  food  she  consumes  sufficient 
phosphorus  for  the  nourishment  of  three  growing  ani- 
mals,—  her  own  immature  body,  a  suckling  calf,  and  an- 
other calf  as  yet  unborn. 

"  Of  course  the  organic  matter  of  the  soil  should  in- 
crease under  pasturing,  especially  under  conditions  that 
make  possible  an  accumulation  of  nitrogen;  but  here, 
too,  the  animals  make  no  contribution  toward  any  such 
accumulation.  With  the  same  growth  of  plants  the  ac- 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON 

cumulation  of  organic  matter  would  be  much  more  rapid 
without  live  stock. 

"  It  is  known  absolutely  but  not  generally  that  live 
stock  destroy  about  two-thirds  of  the  organic  matter  con- 
tained in  the  food  they  consume.  With  grains  the  pro- 
portion is  higher,  and  with  coarse  forage  it  is  lower,  but 
as  an  average  about  two-thirds  of  the  dry  matter  in  tender 
young  grass  or  clover,  or  in  a  mixed,  well-balanced  ra- 
tion of  grain  and  hay,  is  digested  and  thus  practically 
destroyed  so  far  as  the  production  of  organic  matter  is 
concerned. 

"  This  you  could  easily  verify  yourself,  Mr.  West,  by 
feeding  two  thousand  pounds  of  any  suitable  ration,  such 
as  corn  and  clover  hay,  collecting  and  drying  the  total 
excrement,  which  will  be  found  to  weigh  about  seven  hun- 
dred pounds,  if  it  contains  no  higher  percentage  of  mois- 
ture than  was  contained  in  the  two  thousand  pounds  of 
food  consumed. 

"  Of  course  one  should  not  forget  that  the  liquid  ex- 
crement contains  more  nitrogen  and  more  potassium  than 
the  solid,  and  that  much  of  this  can  be  saved  and  returned 
to  the  land  by  use  of  plenty  of  absorbent  bedding,  and  in 
pasturing  there  is  no  danger  of  any  loss  from  this 
source." 

"  That  is  one  great  trouble  with  us,"  said  Mr.  West. 
"  We  never  have  as  much  bedding  as  we  could  use  to  ad- 
vantage, and  it  is  altogether  too  expensive  to  permit  us 
to  think  of  buying  straw." 

"  Probably  it  would  be  much  less  expensive  for  you  to 
buy  ground  limestone  and  then  use  good  alfalfa  hay 
for  bedding,"  said  Percy.  "  I  mean  exactly  what  I  say," 
he  continued.  "  Of  course  I  do  not  advise  you  to  use 
good  alfalfa  hay  in  that  way,  but  it  would  be  a  cheap 
source  of  very  valuable  bedding,  and  it  would  make  an  ex- 


216  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

tremely  valuable  manure.  However,  I  should  not  hesi- 
tate to  make  liberal  use  of  partially  spoiled  alfalfa  hay 
for  bedding,  and  you  are  quite  likely  to  have  more  or  less 
such  hay ;  for  under  favorable  conditions,  such  as  you  can 
easily  have  with  your  soil  and  climate,  alfalfa  comes  on 
with  a  rush  in  the  spring,  and  often  the  first  crop  should 
be  cut  before  the  weather  is  suitable  for  making  hay. 
There  should  be  very  little  or  no  delay  at  this  time,  be- 
cause the  first  cutting  should  be  removed  in  order  that  it 
may  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  second  crop,  which  comes 
forward  still  more  rapidly  under  normal  conditions. 

"  Some  of  our  Illinois  farmers  make  strenuous  objec- 
tion to  taking  care  of  an  alfalfa  field  that  produces  $50 
worth  of  the  richest  and  most  valuable  hay,  because  it 
interferes  too  much  with  the  proper  care  of  a  $25  corn 
crop,  which  they  somehow  feel  requires  and  deserves  all 
their  time  and  attention." 

"  Some  of  our  Virginia  farmers  have  sent  to  Illinois 
for  their  seed  corn,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  and  they  report 
very  good  results,  as  a  rule,  especially  on  land  that  has 
been  kept  up.  On  our  poor  land  I  think  the  native  corn 
does  better  than  the  Western  seed." 

"  Perhaps  that  is  because  it  is  used  to  it,"  suggested 
Percy,  "  used  to  making  the  struggle  for  itself  on  poor 
land,  fighting  for  all  it  gets,  so  to  speak.  You  know  the 
high-bred  animals  cannot  hold  their  own  with  the  scrubs 
when  it  comes  to  pawing  the  snow  off  the  dead  wild  grass 
for  a  living  in  the  winter,  as  cattle  must  do  sometimes  on 
the  plains  of  the  Northwest." 

"  Well,  there  may  be  something  in  that,"  responded 
Mr.  West,  "  but  the  Western  seed  corn  certainly  looks 
fine." 

"  Yes,  that  is  true,"  said  Percy.  "  Our  farmers  have 
made  marked  improvement  in  seed  corn ;  they  also  under- 
stand very  well  how  to  grow  corn.  They  know  how  and 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON  217 

when  to  prepare  the  ground,  how  and  when  to  plant,  and 
how  and  when  to  cultivate.  When  Illinois  farmers  go 
to  Iowa  to  buy  land,  the  Iowa  real  estate  men  usually 
take  them  to  see  a  farm  that  is  owned  and  operated  by  a 
former  Illinoisan,  and  they  insist  that  there  are  no  other 
farmers  who  know  how  to  raise  corn  quite  so  well  as  the 
Illinois  farmer.  Perhaps  the  Illinois  real  estate  man 
would  tell  a  similar  story  to  the  Iowa  farmer  if  he  ever 
came  there  to  buy  land,  but  'Westward  the  Course  of 
Empire  Takes  Its  Way,'  and  the  man  once  gone  West 
knows  the  East  no  more,  except  as  a  market  for  his  sur- 
plus products  or  a  good  place  in  which  to  spend  his  sur- 
plus cash. 

"  But  here !  We  must  finish  our  study  of  the  data 
that  Miss  Adelaide  so  kindly  helped  me  to  compute." 

It  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  spoken  her  name  in 
her  presence;  and  she  met  his  glance  as  she  raised  her 
eyes. 

What's  in  a  name? 
What's  in  a  glance? 

Percy  proceeded  with  little  delay,  and  Adelaide  listened 
as  before,  her  drooping  lashes  protecting  her  eyes  almost 
entirely  from  the  view  of  others.  The  father  and  mother 
heard  no  name  spoken  and  saw  no  eyes  meet,  and  yet  as 
Percy  continued  speaking  a  second  self  seemed  to  be  think- 
ing different  thoughts  and  he  was  conscious  of  a  strong 
desire  to  look  longer  than  an  instant  into  those  captivat- 
ing eyes. 

A  side  glance,  as  she  let  her  lashes  droop,  revealed  to 
Adelaide  that  grandma  alone  had  heard  and  seen.  But 
Percy  was  a  very  common-place  man.  Certainly  he  had 
no  such  face  as  had  held  her  glance  for  more  than  an 
instant  as  the  afternoon  train  began  to  move  from  the 
depot  platform.  Percy  was  slightly  above  the  average 


218  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

height  and  solidly  built,  but  he  was  not  tall.  His  face 
had  often  been  described  as  a  "perfect  blank."  No  one 
saw  anything  of  what  lay  within  by  merely  looking  into 
his  eyes,  and  yet  there  was  a  certain  indescribable  some- 
thing that  appealed  to  one  from  those  eyes.  An  elderly 
German  lady  once  remarked  to  his  mother:  "Ihr  Sohn 
hat  so  etwas  gutes  im  Auge." 

Percy  was  not  polished  in  manner,  Adelaide  admitted. 
Professor  Barstow  had  said  that  he  deliberated  for  half 
an  hour  as  to  whether  he  should  bring  his  "  cawds  "  for 
use  on  Thanksgiving  day,  because  he  feared  that  the 
custom  in  "  Vi'ginia  "  might  not  be  the  same  as  in  "  No'th 
Cahlina  " ;  while  she  doubted  very  much  if  Percy  had  any 
cards  whatever.  She  had  never  heard  it  said  that  he 
was  "strong  as  an  ox  and  quick  as  lightning,"  but  per- 
haps she  knew  it  as  well  as  his  schoolmates  ever  had. 
She  had  not  heard  that  one  of  the  college  professors, 
noted  for  his  short-cut  expressions,  had  once  told  his 
class  that  he  wished  they  would  all  "  keep  their  thinking 
apparatus  in  as  good  repair  as  Johnston's."  One  thing 
she  did  know  was  that  Percy's  voice  had  been  trained  to 
talk  to  a  woman,  and  that  no  other  voice  had  ever  spoken 
her  name  as  he  did.  Reserve  force?  depth  of  manhood? 
confidence  in  his  own  words?  absolute  decision?  wealth 
of  tenderness?  persistent  endurance?  unfailing  loyalty? 
boundless  affection?  Deep  in  her  heart  Adelaide  felt 
that  these  were  among  the  attributes  revealed  in  Percy's 
voice.  When  he  spoke  all  listened.  His  voice  was  low- 
pitched,  but  rich  in  tone  and  volume  and  sincerity, —  that 
was  the  word.  The  whole  man  seemed  to  feel  and  speak 
when  he  spoke.  He  surely  can  have  no  secrets.  His 
mother  must  know  all  that  he  knows  of  his  own  self;  but 
were  those  letters  from  his  mother?  The  handwriting 
was  very  modern.  Even  her  father  made  an  old-fash- 


THE  ULTIMATE  COMPARISON 

ioned  C  and  W  in  signing  his  own  name.  Had  he  not 
looked  at  the  writing  on  both  those  letters  before  he  no- 
ticed the  others?  And  why  did  he  remain  so  long  in  his 
room  before  coming  down  to  dinner?  Had  he  not  been 
in  college  —  in  a  great  University  where  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  the  brightest  girls  of  his  own  state?  But  why 
should  any  girl  be  interested  in  farming?  Teaching  is 
such  a  cultured  profession. 

Only  a  moment  —  just  while  he  was  sorting  the  papers 
upon  which  they  had  made  the  computations,  but  a  hun- 
dred thoughts  had  passed  through  her  mind.  Now  he 
was  speaking. 

"  You  remember  we  took  a  sample  of  the  subsoil  on  the 
sloping  land.  This  soil  is  evidently  residual,  formed  in 
place  from  the  disintegration  of  the  underlying  rock. 
The  soil  may  represent  only  a  small  part  of  the  original 
rock,  because  of  the  loss  by  leaching.  Here  are  the 
amounts  of  plant  food  found  in  two  million  pounds  of  the 
subsoil : 

590  pounds  of  nitrogen 
1,980  pounds  of  phosphorus 

37,940  pounds  of  potassium 

24,880  pounds  of  magnesium 

31,320  pounds  of  calcium 

"  A  splendid  subsoil,"  Percy  continued.  "  I  know  of 
none  better  in  Illinois,  except  that  we  sometimes  have 
more  calcium  in  the  form  of  carbonate,  and  even  some- 
what more  potassium  in  places ;  but  this  must  be  a  fine 
subsoil  for  alfalfa,  where  the  bed  rock  is  not  too  near  the 
surface.  Of  course  there  is  little  nitrogen  in  the  subsoil, 
but  that  is  true  of  all  normal  soils,  because  the  nitrogen 
is  contained  only  in  the  organic  matter,  and  that  de- 
creases rapidly  with  depth  and  usually  becomes  insuffi- 
cient to  color  the  soil  below  18  inches." 


220  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Now,"  began  Mr.  West,  "  from  these  different  an- 
alyses or  invoices,  and  from  your  discussion  of  these  re*- 
suits,  I  take  it  that  you  would  not  advise  me  to  purchase 
any  commercial  fertilizer  for  use  on  the  land  we  are  still 
using  in  my  rotation ;  but  you  think  we  should  make  large 
use  of  limestone  and  legume  crops." 

"  Yes,  Sir.  Phosphorus  is  markedly  deficient  only  in 
the  very  level  upland  which  has  been  allowed  to  remain 
uncleared  for  fifty  years  or  more,  and  nitrogen  is  cer- 
tainly the  limiting  element  on  the  land  you  are  trying 
to  keep  in  your  rotation.  While  you  cannot  hope  to 
put  into  your  soil  any  such  reserve  of  slow-acting  or- 
ganic matter  as  we  still  have  in  our  comparatively  new 
soils  of  the  West,  we  may  keep  in  mind  that  a  small 
amount  of  quick-acting  fresh  organic  matter  is  more 
effective  than  a  large  supply  of  what  we  might  call  em- 
balmed material  that  decomposes  very,  very  slowly  unless 
assisted  by  the  addition  of  more  active  organic  matter. 
It  frequently  happens  that  one  soil  containing  a  large 
reserve  of  old  humus,  and  hence  showing  more  organic 
carbon  and  more  nitrogen,  by  the  ultimate  invoice,  than 
another  soil,  is,  nevertheless,  less  productive,  because  the 
other  soil  contains  a  larger  amount  of  fresh  organic  mat- 
ters, which  decays  quickly  and  thus  furnishes  more  ni- 
trogen and  liberates  more  of  the  other  elements  from  the 
insoluble  minerals  of  the  soil  because  of  the  greater  abun- 
dance of  the  active  products  of  organic  decay. 

"  I  think  you  should  keep  in  mind,  however,  that  for 
every  twenty-five  bushels  of  corn  you  wish  to  produce 
you  should  return  to  the  soil  one  ton  of  clover  or  four 
tons  of  average  farm  manure,  and  that  for  one  ton  of 
produce  hauled  to  the  barns  and  fed,  you  will  probably 
not  return  to  the  land  more  than  one  ton  of  manure." 


CHAPTER  XXX 
"  STONE  SOUP  " 

THE  next  forenoon  Percy  and  Mr.  West  spent  some 
time  making  some  further  tests  with  hydrochloric 
acid  and  litmus  paper  in  different  places  on  the 
farm ;  but  the  result  only  confirmed  the  previous  examina- 
tions. 

"  I  never  before  saw  any  such  light  as  now  appears," 
said  Mr.  West.  "  It  seems  to  me  that  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  Westover,  covering  about  two  centuries, 
a  real  plan  can  be  intelligently  made  based  upon  definite 
information  looking  toward  the  positive  improvement  of 
the  soil.  While  you  have  been  away  I  have  been  looking 
up  the  lime  matter.  I  find  that  a  lime  is  being  advertised 
and  sold  in  small  amounts  that  is  called  hydrated  lime, 
and  it  is  especially  prepared  as  an  agricultural  lime.  It 
is  recommended  by  dealers  as  being  fully  equal  to  the 
ordinary  commercial  fertilizer,  which  sells  at  about  $25 
a  ton,  while  this  hydrated  agricultural  lime  can  be 
bought  for  $8  a  ton,  and  I  think  for  a  little  less  in  larger 
amounts.  You  mentioned  also  that  you  had  seen  some 
one  who  had  used  hydrated  lime,  but  it  didn't  seem  to 
make  much  of  a  clover  crop.  Of  course,  I  understand 
from  what  you  said  that  his  soil  contained  only  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  pounds  of  phosphorus,  and  I  take  it  that 
lime  alone  could  not  markedly  improve  his  soil ;  but  still 
I  would  like  to  know  why,  if  he  has  one  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds  of  phosphorus  in  his  plowed  soil,  he  could 

221 


222  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

not  produce  a  few  good  crops  of  clover.  How  much 
phosphorus  does  it  require  for  a  ton  of  clover?  " 

"  One  ton  of  clover  contains  only  five  pounds  of  phos- 
phorus," Percy  replied,  "  and,  of  course,  the  roots  must 
also  require  some  phosphorus,  although  after  the  crop 
is  produced  and  renioved  the  phosphorus  contained  in 
the  roots  remains  for  the  benefit  of  subsequent  crops. 
Thus  we  might  suppose  the  land  which  contains  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  pounds  of  phosphorus  ought  to  furnish 
the  phosphorus  needed  for  a  three-ton  crop  of  clover 
every  year  for  ten  years;  but  in  actual  practice  no  such 
results  are  secured.  The  invoice  of  the  plant  food  in 
the  soil  is  a  matter  of  very  great  importance,  for  it  re- 
veals the  mathematical  possibilities,  but  another  matter 
of  almost  equal  importance  is  the  problem  of  liberating 
plant  food  from  this  supply  sufficient  for  the  crops  to  be 
produced  year  by  year. 

"  Decaying  or  active  organic  matter  is  one  of  the 
great  factors  in  the  liberation  of  plant  food,  and  un- 
doubtedly the  extension  or  distribution  of  the  root  system 
of  the  growing  plant  is  another  very  potent  factor.  If 
the  root  surfaces  come  in  contact  with  one  per  cent,  of  the 
total  surface  of  the  soil  particles  in  the  plowed  soil,  then 
we  might  conceive  of  a  relationship  whereby  one  per  cent, 
of  the  phosphorus  in  that  soil  would  be  dissolved  or  liber- 
ated from  the  insoluble  minerals  and  thus  become  avail- 
able as  food  for  the  growing  crop.  We  know  that  the 
rate  of  liberation  varies  greatly  with  different  soils  and 
seasons,  and  crops  also  differ  in  their  power  to  assist 
themselves  in  the  extraction  of  mineral  plant  food  from 
the  soil.  The  presence  of  limestone  encourages  the  devel- 
opment of  certain  soil  organisms  which  tend  to  hasten 
some  decomposition  processes.  But,  all  things  considered, 
it  may  be  said,  speaking  very  generally,  that  the  equiva- 


"STONE  SOUP" 

lent  of  about  one  per  cent,  of  the  total  phosphorus  con- 
tained in  the  plowed  soil  does  become  available  for  the 
crops  under  average  conditions.  On  this  basis  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  pounds  of  phosphorus  would  furnish  about 
one  and  one-half  pounds  for  the  crops  during  one  season. 
But  in  such  a  soil  the  phosphorus  still  remaining  may  be 
the  most  difficultly  soluble,  and  the  supply  of  decaying  or- 
ganic matter  may  be  extremely  low,  so  that  possibly  less 
than  one  pound  per  acre  would  become  available,  and  this 
would  meet  the  needs  of  less  than  four  hundred  pounds 
per  acre  of  clover  hay.  Furthermore,  the  supply  grows 
less  and  less  with  every  crop  removed. 

"  With  your  ordinary  soil,  carrying  twelve  hundred  and 
seventy  pounds  of  phosphorus,  perhaps  you  may  be  able 
by  a  liberal  use  of  decaying  organic  matter  to  liberate  ten 
or  fifteen  pounds  of  phosphorus,  or  sufficient  for  a  crop 
of  forty  to  sixty  bushels  of  corn ;  and,  with  a  subsoil 
richer  in  phosphorus  than  the  surface,  and  with  more  or 
less  of  the  partially  depleted  surface  removed  by  erosion 
year  by  year,  the  supply  of  phosphorus  is  thus  perma- 
nently provided  for  unless  the  bed  rock  is  brought  too  near 
the  surface.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  direct  addition  of  phos- 
phorus to  your  sloping  lands  will  ever  be  necessary  or 
profitable.  Certainly  such  addition  is  not  advisable  until 
you  have  brought  the  land  to  as  high  a  state  of  fertility 
as  is  practicable  by  means  of  limestone,  legumes,  and  ma- 
nure." 

"  That  seems  clearly  to  be  the  case  with  most  of  the 
land  now  under  cultivation  on  this  farm,"  said  Mr.  West. 
"Can  you  tell  me  anything  about  this  hydrated  lime?" 

"  I  can  tell  you  it  is  correctly  named,"  Percy  replied. 
"  Hydrated  means  watered,  and  an  investment  in  hydrated 
lime  is  properly  classed  with  other  watered  investments. 
If  you  prefer  to  use  hydrated  lime  I  would  suggest  that 


you  buy  fresh-burned  lump  lime  and  do  the  hydrating 
yourself,  which  only  requires  that  you  add  eighteen  pounds 
of  water  to  each  fifty-six  pounds  of  quicklime;  in  other 
words,  that  you  slack  the  lime  by  adding  water  in  the 
proper  proportion.  Both  quicklime  and  hydrated  lime 
are  known  as  caustic  lime.  Webster  says  that  the  word 
caustic  means  '  capable  of  destroying  the  texture  of  any- 
thing or  eating  away  its  substance  by  chemical  action.' 

"  This  definition  is  correct  for  caustic  lime,  as  you  can 
easily  determine  by  keeping  your  hand  in  a  bucket  of 
slacked  lime  for  a  few  minutes.  Caustic  lime  eats  away  the 
organic  matter  of  the  soil.  In  an  experiment  conducted 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Experiment  Station,  during  a  period 
of  sixteen  years  eight  tons  of  hydrated  lime  destroyed  or- 
ganic matter  equivalent  to  thirty-seven  tons  of  farm  ma- 
nure, as  compared  with  the  use  of  equivalent  applications 
of  ground  limestone;  and,  as  an  average  of  the  sixteen 
years,  every  ton  o^f  caustic  lime  applied  liberated  seven 
dollars'  worth  of  organic  nitrogen,  as  compared  with 
ground  limestone.  That  this  much  liberated  nitrogen  was 
essentially  wasted  and  lost  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
larger  crops  were  produced  where  ground  limestone  was 
used  than  where  burned  lime  was  applied. 

"  The  limestone  must  be  quarried  whether  used  for  grind- 
ing or  for  burning,  and  the  grinding  can  be  done  for 
twenty-five  cents  a  ton  where  a  large  equipment  with 
powerful  machinery  is  used  and  where  cheap  fuel  is  pro- 
vided, as  near  the  coal-mining  districts.  It  need  not  be 
very  finely  ground.  If  ground  to  pass  a  sieve  with  ten 
meshes  to  the  linear  inch,  it  is  very  satisfactory,  provided 
that  all  of  the  fine  dust  produced  in  the  grinding  is  in- 
cluded in  the  product.  You  see  the  soil  acids  are  slightly 
soluble  and  they  attack  the  limestone  particles  and  are 
thus  themselves  destroyed  or  neutralized.  If,  however, 


«  STONE  SOUP"  225 

you  ever  wish  to  use  raw  rock  phosphate,  insist  upon  its  be- 
ing sufficiently  fine-ground  that  at  least  ninety  per  cent,  of 
it  will  pass  through  a  sieve  with  ten  thousand  meshes  to  the 
square  inch,  this  being  no  finer  than  is  required,  for  the 
basic  slag  phosphate,  of  which  several  million  tons  are  now 
being  used  each  year  in  the  European  countries.  Like  the 
raw  rock  phosphate,  the  slag  gives  the  best  results  only 
when  used  in  connection  with  plenty  of  decaying  organic 
matter." 

"  That  reminds  me,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  of  what  one  of 
the  fertilizer  agents  said  about  raw  phosphate.  He  said 
the  use  of  raw  phosphate  with  farm  manure  reminded  him 
of  *  stone  soup,'  which  was  made  by  putting  a  clean  round 
stone  in  the  kettle  with  some  water.  Pepper  and  salt  were 
added,  then  some  potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  a  piece 
of  butter  and  a  few  scraps  of  meat.  '  Stone  soup,'  thus 
made,  was  a  very  satisfactory  soup.  He  said  that  in 
practically  all  of  the  tests  of  raw  phosphate,  conducted  by 
the  various  State  Experiment  Stations,  manure  has  been 
used  as  a  means  of  supplying  organic  matter  to  liberate 
the  phosphorus  from  the  raw  rock,  but  in  such  large 
quantity  as  to  be  entirely  impracticable  for  the  average 
farmer  to  use  on  his  own  fields ;  and  his  opinion  was  that 
the  entire  benefit  was  due  to  the  manure.  He  had  a  little 
booklet  entitled  *  Available  or  Unavailable  Plant  Food  — 
Which?  '  published  by  the  National  Fertilizer  Association, 
and  I  could  get  a  copy  by  addressing  the  Secretary  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee." 

"Fortunately,"  said  Percy,  "this  is  not  a  question  of 
opinion  but  one  of  fact;  and  it  has  been  discovered  that 
the  fertilizer  agents  who  are  long  on  opinions  and  short 
on  facts  prefer  to  sell  four  tons  of  complete  fertilizer  for 
$80,  or  even  two  tons  of  acid  phosphate  for  $30,  rather 
than  sell  one  ton  of  raw  phosphate,  containing  the  same 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

amount  of  phosphorus,  for  $7.50.  In  the  manufacture 
of  acidulated  fertilizers,  one  ton  of  raw  phosphate,  contain- 
ing about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  the  element 
phosphorus,  is  mixed  with  one  ton  of  sulfuric  acid  to  make 
two  tons  of  acid  phosphate ;  and,  as  a  rule,  these  two  tons 
of  acid  phosphate  are  mixed  with  two  tons  of  filler  to  make 
four  tons  of  complete  fertilizer.  A  favorite  filler  is  dried 
peat,  which  is  taken  from  some  of  the  peat  bogs,  as  at 
Manito,  Illinois,  and  shipped  in  train  loads  to  the  ferti- 
lizer factories.  The  peat  is  not  considered  worth  hauling 
onto  the  land  in  Illinois,  even  where  the  farmers  can  get  it 
for  nothing;  but  it  contains  some  organic  nitrogen,  and, 
by  the  addition  of  a  little  potassium  salt,  the  agent  is 
enabled  to  call  the  product  a  *  complete  '  fertilizer. 

"  Experiments  with  the  use  of  raw  rock  phosphate  have 
been  conducted  by  the  State  Agricultural  Experiment 
Stations  over  periods  of  twelve  years  in  Maryland,  eleven 
years  in  Rhode  Island,  twenty-one  years  (in  two  series) 
in  Massachusetts,  fourteen  years  (in  two  series)  in  Maine, 
twelve  years  in  Pennsylvania,  thirteen  years  in  Ohio,  four 
years  in  Indiana,  and  from  four  to  six  years  on  a  dozen 
different  experiment  fields  in  different  parts  of  Illinois. 

"  I  have  here  some  quotations  taken  from  the  directors 
of  several  of  these  experiment  stations  which  fairly  rep- 
resent the  opinions  which  they  have  expressed  concerning 
their  own  investigations.  Thus  the  Maryland  director 
says: 

"  *  The  results  obtained  with  the  insoluble  phosphates 
has  cost  usually  less  than  one-half  as  much  as  that  with 
the  soluble  phosphates.  Insoluble  South  Carolina  phos- 
phate rock  produced  a  higher  total  average  yield  than 
dissolved  South  Carolina  rock.' 

"  The  Rhode  Island  director  comments  as  follows : 

"  '  With  the  pea,  oat,  summer  squash,  crimson  clover, 


"STONE  SOUP"  227 

Japanese  millet,  golden  millet,  white  podded  Adzuka  bean, 
soy  bean,  and  potato,  raw  phosphate  gave  very  good  re- 
sults; but  with  the  flat  turnip,  table  beet,  and  cabbage  it 
was  relatively  very  inefficient.'  (Such  artificial  plants  as 
turnips  and  cabbage  can't  readily  utilize  raw  phosphate.) 

"  The  following  is  from  the  Massachusetts  director : 

"  *  It  is  possible  to  produce  profitable  crops  of  most 
kinds  by  liberal  use  of  natural  phosphates,  and  in  a  long 
series  of  years  there  might  be  a  considerable  money  saving 
in  depending  at  least  in  part  upon  these  rather  than  upon 
the  higher  priced  dissolved  phosphates.' 

"  The  director  of  the  Maine  State  Experiment  Station 
gives  us  the  following: 

"'For  the  first  year  the  largest  increase  of  crop  was 
produced  by  soluble  phosphate.  For  the  second  and  third 
years  without  further  addition  of  fertilizers,  better  re- 
sults were  obtained  from  the  plots  where  stable  manure 
and  insoluble  phosphates  had  been  used.' 

"  The  stable  manure  and  insoluble  phosphates  here  re- 
ferred to  were  not  applied  together,  but  on  separate  plots. 
Indeed,  the  raw  phosphate  was  not  use4  in  connection  with 
manure  either  in  Maryland,  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts, 
Maine,  Pennsylvania,  or  Indiana ;  and  in  the  extensive  ex- 
periments in  progress  in  Illinois  the  raw  phosphate  haa 
been  used,  as  a  rule,  not  with  farm  manure,  but  with  green 
manures;  and  wherever  manure  has  been  used  in  connec- 
tion with  the  raw  phosphate,  as  in  Ohio,  the  comparison 
is  made  with  the  same  amounts  of  manure  applied  without 
phosphate. 

"  The  Pennsylvania  Report  for  1895,  page  210,  con- 
tains the  following  statement: 

"  *  The  yearly  average  for  the  twelve  years  gives  us  a 
gain  per  acre  of  $2.83  from  insoluble  ground  bone,  $2.43 
from  insoluble  South  Carolina  rock,  $1.61  from  reverted 


228  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

phosphate,  and  48  cents  from  soluble  phosphate,  thus  giv- 
ing us  considerably  better  results  from  the  two  forms  of 
insoluble  phosphate  than  from  the  reverted  or  soluble 
forms.' 

"  The  Indiana  director  reports  as  follows : 
" '  It  will  be  seen  that  during  the  first  and  second  years 
the  rock  phosphate  produced  little  effect,  while  the  acid 
phosphate  very  materially  increased  the  yields.  During 
the  third  and  fourth  seasons,  however,  the  rock  produced 
very  striking  results,  even  forging  ahead  of  the  acid. 
This  and  very  similar  investigations  in  progress  lead  us 
to  believe  that  rock  phosphate  is  a  cheap  and  effective 
source  of  phosphorus  where  immediate  returns  are  not  re- 
quired.' 

"  In  the  Ohio  experiments  eight  tons  of  manure  per  acre 
were  applied  once  every  three  years  in  a  three-year  ro- 
tation of  corn,  wheat,  and  clover,  three  different  fields  be- 
ing used,  so  that  every  crop  might  be  grown  every  year. 
The  average  yields  for  the  thirteen  years  where  manure 
alone  was  used  were: 

53.1  bushels  of  corn 
20.6  bushels  of  wheat 
1.68  tons  of  hay 

**  The  average  yields  on  the  unfertilized  land  were : 

82.2  bushels  of  corn 
11.4  bushels  of  wheat 
1.16  tons  of  hay 

"If  the  corn  is  worth  35  cents  a  bushel,  the  wheat  70 
cents,  and  the  hay  $6  a  ton,  in  addition  to  the  expense  of 
harvesting  and  marketing,  then  the  total  value  of  the  ma- 
nure, spread  on  the  land,  is  $2.07  a  ton. 


"STONE  SOUP"  229 

"Where  $1.20  worth  of  raw  phosphate  (320  pounds) 
was  added  in  connection  with  the  manure  the  average 
yields  were  as  follows: 

61.4  bushels  of  corn 

26.3  bushels  of  wheat 
2.23  tons  of  hay 

"And  where  $2.40  worth  of  acid  phosphate  (320 
pounds)  was  used  with  the  same  amount  and  kind  of  ma- 
nure the  following  average  yields  were  secured: 

60.4  bushels  of  corn 

26.5  bushels  of  wheat 
2.16  tons  of  hay 

"  These  are  the  actual  yields,  and  by  any  method  of 
computation  yet  proposed,  each  dollar  invested  in  raw 
phosphate  has  paid  back  much  more  than  has  a  dollar  in- 
vested in  acid  phosphate." 

"  And  was  the  use  of  the  raw  phosphate  really  profit- 
able? "  asked  Mr.  West. 

"  Well,  you  might  figure  that  out  for  yourself,"  Percy 
replied,  "  preferably  using  the  average  prices  for  your 
own  locality  for  corn,  wheat  and  clover.  As  I  figure  it 
at  prices  below  the  ten-year  average  for  Illinois,  the  raw 
phosphate  paid  about  eight  hundred  per  cent,  net  on  the 
investment." 

**  Eight  hundred  per  cent. !  You  must  mean  eight  per 
cent,  net." 

"  No,  Sir,  I  mean  eight  hundred  per  cent,  net,  but  you 
had  better  take  the  data  and  make  your  own  computations. 
But  does  it  not  seem  strange  that,  with  such  positive 
knowledge  as  this  available,  many  of  the  Illinois  land- 


230  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

owners  who  have  managed  to  sell  off  enough  of  their  orgi- 
nal  stock  of  fertility,  in  grain  or  live  stock  at  good  prices, 
to  enable  them  to  more  than  pay  for  their  lands,  should 
continue  to  invest  their  surplus  in  more  land,  or  in  stock 
companies,  with  hope  that  it  will  pay  them  eight  per  cent, 
interest,  when  they  could  secure  many  times  that  much 
interest  from  investing  in  the  permanent  improvement  of 
the  land  they  already  own  and  control?  " 

"  Perhaps  it  is  not  so  strange,"  replied  Mr.  West.  "  I 
fear  that  some  of  their  ancestors  did  the  same  thing  in 
Virginia  and  other  Eastern  States  until  the  land  became 
poor,  and  then  of  course  they  were  '  land  poor.'  But,  say, 
that  '  stone  soup '  wouldn't  be  so  bad  for  those  Ohio  land- 
owners, would  it?  I  should  think  they  would  avail  them- 
selves of  the  positive  information  from  their  experiment 
station.  Speaking  of  soup,  I  wonder  if  it  isn't  time  for 
lunch!  But  tell  me;  are  the  Illinois  farmers  doing  any- 
thing with  raw  phosphate?" 

"  Yes,  they  are  doing  something,  but  by  no  means  as 
much  as  they  ought.  About  two  months  ago  a  group  of 
the  leading  farmers  from  our  section  of  the  State  went  up 
to  Urbana  to  look  over  the  experiment  fields,  some  of 
which  have  been  carried  on  since  1879.  The  land  is  the 
typical  corn-belt  prairie,  and  consequently  the  results 
should  be  of  very  wide  application.  Well,  as  a  result  of 
that  day's  inspection  of  the  actual  field  results,  an  even 
twelve  carloads  of  raw  phosphate  were  ordered  by  those 
farmers  upon  their  return  home;  and  I  learned  of  another 
community  where  ten  carloads  were  ordered  at  once  after 
a  similar  visit.  As  an  average  of  the  last  six  years  the 
yield  of  corn  on  those  old  fields  has  been  26  bushels  per 
acre  where  corn  has  been  grown  every  year  without  ferti- 
lizing, 60  bushels  where  a  three-year  rotation  of  corn,  oats 
and  clover  is  followed ;  and  in  the  same  rotation  where  or- 


"STONE  SOUP" 

ganic  matter,  limestone,  and  phosphorus  have  been  applied 
the  average  yield  has  been  87  bushels  in  grain  farming  and 
90  bushels  in  live-stock  farming. 

"I  attended  the  State  Farmers'  Institute  last  Feb- 
ruary, and  there  I  met  many  men  who  have  had  several 
years'  experience  with  the  raw  rock.  Usually  they  put 
on  one  ton  per  acre  as  an  initial  application  and  plow  it 
under  with  a  good  growth  of  clover ;  and,  afterward,  about 
one  thousand  pounds  per  acre  every  four  years  will  be 
ample  to  gradually  increase  the  absolute  total  supply  of 
phosphorus  in  the  soil,  even  though  large  crops  are  re- 
moved. 

"  A  good  many  of  our  thinking  farmers  are  now  using 
one  or  two  cars  of  raw  phosphate  every  year,  and  they  are 
figuring  hard  to  keep  up  the  organic  matter  and  nitrogen. 
The  most  encouraging  thing  is  the  very  marked  benefit  of 
the  phosphate  to  the  clover  crop,  and  of  course  more 
clover  means  more  corn  in  grain  farming,  and  more  corn 
and  clover  means  more  manure  in  live-stock  farming. 

"  On  the  Illinois  fields  advantage  is  taken  of  these  re- 
lations in  the  developing  of  systems  of  permanent  agri- 
culture. You  see,  if  the  phosphate  produces  more  clover, 
then  more  clover  can  be  plowed  under  on  that  land ;  or,  if 
the  crops  are  fed,  then  more  manure  can  be  returned  to 
the  phosphated  land  than  to  the  land  not  treated  with 
phosphate  and  not  producing  so  large  crops.  Really  the 
phosphate  is  not  given  full  credit  for  what  it  has  accom- 
plished in  the  Ohio  experiments;  because,  while  the  land 
receiving  phosphated  manure  has  produced  about  one- 
fourth  larger  crops  than  the  land  receiving  the  untreated 
manure,  the  actual  amounts  of  manure  applied  have  been 
the  same;  whereas,  one-fourth  more  manure  can  be  pro- 
duced from  the  phosphated  land;  and,  if  this  increased 
supply  of  manure  were  returned  to  the  land,  it  would  in- 


232  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

crease  the  supply  of  nitrogen  and  thus  make  still  larger 
crop  yields  possible." 

"  That  is  surely  the  way  it  would  work  out  in  practical 
farming,"  said  Mr.  West.  "  I  think  I  did  not  tell  you  that 
$4.80  a  ton  is  the  lowest  quotation  I  have  been  able  to  get 
as  yet  for  ground  limestone  delivered  at  Blue  Mound  Sta- 
tion." 

"  That  would  make  its  use  prohibitive,"  said  Percy. 
"  You  ought  to  get  it  for  just  one-fourth  of  that,  or  for 
$1.20  a  ton.  In  Illinois  we  can  get  it  delivered  a  hundred 
miles  from  the  quarry  for  $1.20  a  ton.  It  costs  no  more 
for  a  thirty-ton  car  of  ground  limestone  than  the  farmer 
receives  for  a  cow ;  and  the  cost  of  a  car  of  fine-ground  nat- 
ural phosphate  is  about  equal  to  the  price  of  one  horse." 

"  Of  course,  our  limestone  supplies  are  essentially  in- 
exhaustible," said  Mr.  West,  "  but  is  that  also  true  of 
our  natural  phosphate  deposits  ?  " 

"  It  is  probably  not  true  of  the  high-grade  phosphate," 
replied  Percy,  "  for,  according  to  tentative  reports  fur- 
nished by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  known  supplies  of  our  high-grade  phosphate 
will  be  sufficient  for  only  about  five  tons  per  acre  for 
all  the  farm  land  of  the  United  States.  But  even  this 
is  enough  to  double  the  phosphorus  content  of  the  average 
plowed  soil,  and  with  proper  use  of  legumes,  and  of  lime- 
stone where  needed,  it  would  ultimately  double  our  crop 
yields.  After  the  high-grade  phosphate  has  been  used 
we  may  then  draw  upon  our  much  more  extensive  low-grade 
deposits,  and  it  is  highly  probable,  of  course,  that  addi- 
tional phosphate  deposits  will  be  discovered ;  and  to  some 
extent  phosphorus  once  applied  to  the  soil  can  be  used  over 
and  over,  much  of  it  being  returned  in  crop  residues  and 
farm  manure.  In  this  sense  it  becomes  working  capital." 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

THEORIES  VERSUS  FACTS 

PERCY  planned  to  walk  to  Blue  Mound  to  take  the 
three-thirty  train  that  Saturday  afternoon;  but 
Adelaide's  parents  both  insisted  that  she  would  will- 
ingly drive  to  the  station,  and  the  grandmother  discovered 
that  she  needed  a  certain  kind  of  thread  which  Adelaide 
could  then  also  get  at  the  store. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Adelaide,  with  some  merriment,  "  I 
always  enjoy  taking  our  departing  guests  to  the  train." 

"  Very  well,"  replied  Percy.  "  If  you  must  go  to  get 
the  thread  and  will  permit  me  to  be  the  coachman,  I  shall 
be  satisfied,  for  you  will  be  home  early." 

"  Then  we  will  take  the  colts  and  buckboard,  and  I  shall 
be  home  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  after  your  train 
leaves  the  station." 

"  I  think  I  have  missed  several  days  of  your  beautiful 
*  Indian  Summer,'  because  of  my  trip  to  the  North," 
Percy  remarked  to  Mr.  West  as  they  sat  on  the  broad  ve- 
randa waiting  for  the  hour  of  two-thirty  when  the  colts 
were  to  be  ready  for  the  drive. 

"  I  wish  you  might  have  been  with  us  while  Professor 
Barstow  was  here,"  replied  Mr.  West,  "  not  only  because 
of  the  mild  autumn  weather  we  have  had,  but  also  because 
Professor  Barstow  has  some  ideas  about  questions  of  soil 
fertility  that  are  very  different  from  those  you  hold.  He 
says  a  young  man  from  Washington  gave  a  lecture  at  his 
college  down  in  North  Carolina,  in  which  he  informed  them 
that  the  cause  of  infertility  of  soils  is  a  poisonous  sub- 

233 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

stance  excreted  by  the  plant  itself,  and  that  this  can  be 
overcome  by  changing  from  one  crop  to  another;  because 
the  excreta  of  one  plant,  while  poisonous  to  that  plant,  will 
not  be  poisonous  to  other  plants  of  a  different  kind. 
Thus,  by  rotation  of  crops,  good  crops  could  be  grown 
indefinitely  on  the  same  land  without  the  addition  of  plant 
food.  He  said  that  the  soil  water  alone  dissolved  plenty 
of  plant  food  from  all  soils  for  the  production  of  good 
crops  and  that  the  supply  of  plant  food  will  be  perma- 
nently maintained;  because  the  plant  food  contained  in 
the  subsoil  far  below  where  the  roots  go  is  being  brought 
to  the  surface  by  the  rise  of  the  capillary  moisture,  and 
that  there  is  in  fact  a  steady  tendency  toward  an  accumu- 
lation of  plant  food  in  the  surface  soil.  He  said  that  it 
is  never  necessary  to  apply  fertilizing  material  to  any 
soil  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  supply  of  plant  food 
in  that  soil.  He  admitted  that  applications  of  fertilizers 
sometimes  produce  increased  yields,  but  held  that  the  ef- 
fect was  due  to  the  power  of  the  fertilizer  to  destroy  the 
toxic  substances  excreted  by  the  plants,  that  this  is  really 
the  principal  effect  of  potash,  phosphates,  and  nitrates, 
and  also  of  farm  manure  and  green  manures.  Humus, 
he  said,  is  one  of  the  very  best  substances  for  destroying 
these  toxic  excreta,  although  they  had  some  other  things 
which  were  as  good  or  better  than  any  sort  of  fertilizing 
materials.  He  mentioned  especially  a  substance  called 
pyrogallol,  which  cost  $2.00  a  pound,  and  of  course  it 
could  not  be  applied  on  a  large  scale ;  but  it  was  as  good 
a  fertilizer  as  anything,  although  it  contains  nothing  but 
carbon,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen,  which,  as  you  explained  to 
me  when  you  were  here  before,  the  plants  secure  in  abun- 
dance from  air  and  water.  This  information  has  been 
secured  in  the  laboratories  at  Washington  by  growing 
wheat  seedlings  in  water  culture  for  twenty-day  periods." 


THEORIES  VERSUS  FACTS  235 

"  I  have  already  heard  something  of  those  theories," 
said  Percy,  "  but  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  tell  me  more 
about  them.  As  I  understand  them,  we  need  only  to  ro- 
tate and  cultivate  and  our  lands  should  always  continue 
to  produce  bountiful  crops.  Is  that  correct?  " 

"I  undertsand  that  is  the  theory,"  replied  Mr.  West, 
"  but  I  know  it  is  not  correct,  for  my  grandfather  used  to 
grow  two  or  three  times  as  much  wheat  per  acre  as  I  can 
grow,  and  I  rotate  much  more  than  he  did.  In  fact  I  can 
grow  only  ten  to  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  once  in 
ten  years,  whereas  he  grew  from  twenty-five  to  forty  bush- 
els per  acre  in  a  five-year  rotation;  and  I  don't  see  that 
there  is  any  particular  connection  between  the  growing  of 
wheat  seedlings  in  small  pots  or  bottles  for  a  few  twenty- 
day  periods  and  the  growing  of  crops  in  soils  during  suc- 
cessive seasons.  No,  I  don't  take  any  stock  in  their  the- 
ories. I  think  they  are  watered,  or  perhaps  I  should  say 
hydrated,  in  deference  to  science.  But  I  would  like  to 
know  about  this  question  of  plant  food  coming  up  from 
below.  That  would  be  a  happy  solution  of  the  fertilizer 
problem." 

"  It  is  true,"  said  Percy,  '*  that  soluble  salts  are  brought 
to  the  surface  in  the  rise  of  moisture  by  capillarity  in  times 
of  partial  drouth ;  and  in  the  arid  regions  where  the  small 
amount  of  water  that  falls  in  rain  or  snow  leaves  the  soil 
only  by  evaporation,  because  there  is  never  enough  to 
produce  underdrainage,  the  salts  tend  to  accumulate  at 
the  surface.  The  alkali  conditions  in  the  arid  or  semi- 
arid  regions  of  the  West  are  thus  produced.  But  in 
humid  sections  where  more  or  less  of  the  rainfall  leaves 
the  soil  as  underdrainage  the  regular  loss  by  leaching  is 
so  much  in  excess  of  the  rise  by  capillarity  that  soils  which 
are  not  affected  by  erosion  or  overflow  steadily  decrease 
in  fertility  even  under  natural  conditions,  with  no  culti- 


236  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

vation  and  no  removal  of  crops.  Of  course  this  applies 
at  first  only  to  the  mineral  plant  foods,  as  phosphorus 
potassium,  magnesium  and  calcium.  While  mineral  sup- 
plies are  abundant  in  the  surface  soil,  there  may  be  a  large 
accumulation  of  organic  matter  and  nitrogen,  especially 
because  of  the  growth  of  wild  legumes,  which  are  very 
numerous  and  in  places  very  abundant,  especially  on 
some  of  the  virgin  prairies  of  the  West.  However,  as  the 
process  of  leaching  proceeds  there  comes  a  time  when  the 
growth  of  the  native  vegetation  is  limited  because  of  a 
deficiency  in  some  essential  mineral  plant  food,  such  as 
phosphorus,  or  the  limestone  completely  disappears  and 
soil  acidity  develops  which  greatly  lessens  the  growth  of 
the  legumes. 

"  Decomposition  of  organic  matter  begins  almost  as 
soon  as  any  part  of  the  plant  ceases  to  live,  and  there  is 
certain  to  come  a  time  when  the  rate  of  decomposition  and 
loss  exceeds  the  rate  of  fixation  and  accumulation ;  and 
from  that  time  on  the  organic  matter  and  nitrogen  as  well 
as  the  mineral  plant  foods  continue  to  decrease  in  the 
surface,  until  finally  the  natural  barrens  are  developed, 
such  as  are  found  in  different  sections  of  the  world  and 
in  some  places  even  where  the  rainfall  is  sufficient  for  abun- 
dant crops." 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  said  Mr.  West,  "  I  know  that  is  true.  I 
have  visited  Tennessee  and  I  know  there  are  some  exten- 
sive areas  there  of  practically  level  upland  which  have  al- 
ways been  considered  too  poor  to  justify  putting  under 
cultivation,  and  they  are  called  the  '  Barrens  V 

"  I  know  about  those  barren  lands,  too,"  said  Percy. 
"  Our  teacher  of  soil  fertility  in  college  told  us  that  a  farm 
is  more  than  a  piece  of  the  earth's  surface.  He  said  if 
we  only  wanted  to  get  a  large  level  tract  of  upland  where 
the  climate  is  mild  and  the  rainfall  abundant  and  where  all 


THEORIES  VERSUS  FACTS  237 

sorts  of  crops  do  well  on  good  soil,  including  the  wonder- 
ful cotton  crop  which  brings  a  hundred  dollars  for  a 
thousand  pounds,  while  corn  brings  forty  dollars  for  a 
hundred  bushels, —  well,  he  said  we  could  go  to  the  High- 
land Rim  of  Tennessee  where,  according  to  analyses  re- 
ported in  1897  by  the  Tennessee  Experiment  Station,  the 
surface  soil  of  the  *  Barrens'  contains  eighty-seven  pounds 
of  phosphorus  and  the  subsoil  sixty-one  pounds  of  phos- 
phorus, per  acre,  counting  two  million  pounds  of  soil  in 
each  case.  He  said,  if  we  didn't  like  that  we  might  go 
into  the  Central  Basin  of  Tennessee  or  the  famous  Blue 
Grass  Region  of  Kentucky  and  find  land  that  is  still  ex- 
tremely productive  and  more  valuable  than  ever,  even 
after  a  hundred  years  of  cultivation,  and  buy  land  con- 
taining from  three  thousand  to  fifteen  thousand  pounds  of 
phosphorus  per  acre." 

"  I  know  both  of  those  sections  very  well,"  said  Mr. 
West.  "  But  doesn't  it  seem  strange  that  the  scientists 
at  Washington  would  teach  as  they  do?  Why  doesn't 
the  plant  food  accumulate  in  the  surface  of  those  barrens  ? 
Surely  they  have  been  lying  there  long  enough,  with 
no  crops  whatever  removed,  so  that  they  ought  to  have 
become  very  rich.  I  wish  I  had  known  about  their  phos- 
phorus content  so  I  could  have  told  Professor  Barstow. 
He  was  quite  carried  away  with  the  Washington  theory." 

"  You  ought  not  for  a  moment  call  it  the  *  Washington  ' 
theory,"  said  Percy ;  "  and  neither  is  it  promulgated  by 
scientists,  but  rather  by  two  or  three  theorists  who  are 
upheld  by  our  greatest  living  optimist.  Science,  Sir,  is 
a  word  to  be  spoken  of  always  with  the  greatest  respect. 
Of  course  you  know  its  meaning?" 

"  Yes,  I  know  it  comes  from  the  Latin  scire,  to  know." 

"  Then  science  means  knowledge;  it  does  not  mean 
theory  or  hypothesis,  but  absolute  and  positive  knowledge. 


238  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

Is  there  any  uncertainty  as  to  the  instant  when  the  next 
eclipse  will  appear?  No,  none  whatever.  Science  means 
knowledge,  and  men  are  scientists  only  so  far  as  they  have 
absolute  knowledge,  and  to  that  extent  every  farmer  is  a 
scientist. 

"  Nevertheless  the  erroneous  teaching  so  widely  promul- 
gated by  the  federal  Bureau  of  Soils  is  undoubtedly  a  most 
potent  influence  against  the  adoption  of  systems  of  positive 
soil  improvement  in  the  United  States,  because  it  is  dis- 
seminated from  the  position  of  highest  authority.  Other 
peoples  have  ruined  other  lands,  but  in  no  other  country 
has  the  powerful  factor  of  government  influence  ever  been 
used  to  encourage  the  farmers  to  ruin  their  lands." 


CHAPTER   XXXH 

GUESSING  AND  GASSING 

A  S  we  were  riding  to  Montplain  yesterday,"  said 
/•%  Adelaide  to  Percy,  soon  after  they  started  for 
Blue  Mound,  "  Professor  Barstow  told  me  that 
in  his  opinion  all  that  was  needed  to  redeem  these  old  lands 
of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  is  plenty  of  efficient  labor, 
such  as  he  thinks  we  had  before  the  war.  I  know  papa 
does  not  agree  with  him  in  that,  but  Professor  said  that 
soils  do  not  wear  out  if  well  cultivated,  that  in  New  Eng- 
land they  grow  as  large  crops  as  ever,  and  that  in 
Europe,  on  the  oldest  lands  the  crop  yields  are  very  much 
larger  than  in  the  United  States;  and  in  fact  that  the 
European  countries  are  producing  about  twice  as  large 
crops  as  they  did  a  hundred  years  ago.  He  thinks  it  is 
because  they  do  their  work  more  thoroughly  than  we  do. 
He  says  that  *  a  little  farm  well  tilled '  is  the  key  to  the 
solution  of  our  difficulties." 

"  That  might  seem  to  be  a  good  guess  as  to  the  prob- 
able relation  of  cause  and  effect,"  replied  Percy,  "  but  we 
ought  not  to  overlook  some  well  known  facts  that  have  an 
important  bearing.  It  is  exactly  a  hundred  years  since 
DeSaussure,  of  France,  first  gave  to  the  world  a  clear  and 
correct  and  almost  complete  statement  concerning  the  re- 
quirements of  plants  for  plant  food  and  the  natural 
sources  of  supply.  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  Baron  von 
Liebig,  Lawes  and  Gilbert,  and  Hellriegel  followed  De- 
Saussure and  completely  filled  the  nineteenth  century  with 

839 


240  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

accumulated  scientific  facts  relating  to  soils  and  plant 
growth. 

"  Sir  John  Bennet  Lawes,  the  founder  of  the  Rotham- 
sted  Experiment  Station,  the  oldest  in  the  world,  on  his 
own  private  estate  at  Harpenden,  England,  began  his  in- 
vestigations in  the  interest  of  practical  agricultural  sci- 
ence soon  after  coming  into  possession  of  Rothamsted  in 
1834.  In  1843  he  associated  with  him  in  the  work  Doctor 
Joseph  Henry  Gilbert ;  and  for  fifty-seven  years  those  two 
great  men  labored  together  gathering  agricultural  facts. 
Sir  John  died  in  1900,  and  Sir  Henry  the  following  year. 

"  That  the  people  of  Europe  have  made  some  use  of 
the  science  thus  evolved  is  evident  from  the  simple  fact 
that  they  are  taking  out  of  the  United  States  every  year 
about  a  million  tons  of  our  best  phosphate  rock,  for  which 
they  pay  us  at  the  point  of  shipment  about  five  million  dol- 
lars ;  whereas,  if  this  same  phosphate  were  applied  to  our 
own  soils  that  already  suffer  for  want  of  phosphorus,  it 
would  make  possible  the  production  of  nearly  a  billion 
dollars*  worth  of  corn  above  what  these  soils  can  ever  pro- 
duce without  the  addition  of  phosphorus.  And  our  phos- 
phate is  only  a  part  of  the  phosphate  imported  into  Eu- 
rope. They  also  produce  rock  phosphate  from  European 
mines,  and  great  quantities  of  slag  phosphate  from  their 
phosphatic  iron  ores.  They  feed  their  own  crops  and 
large  amounts  of  imported  food  stuffs,  and  utilize  all  fer- 
tilizing materials  thus  provided  for  the  improvement  of 
their  own  lands.  Legume  crops  are  grown  in  great  abund- 
ance and  are  often  plowed  under  to  help  the  land. 

"Do  you  wonder  why  the  wheat  yield  in  England  is 
more  than  thirty  bushels  per  acre  while  that  of  the  United 
States  is  less  than  fifteen  bushels?  Because  England  pro- 
duces only  fifty  million  bushels  of  wheat,  while  she  im- 
ports two  hundred  million  bushels  of  wheat,  one  hundred 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING 

million  bushels  of  corn,  nearly  a  billion  pounds  of  oil  cake, 
and  other  food  stuffs,  from  which  large  quantities  of  ma- 
nure are  made ;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  England  imports 
and  uses  phosphate  and  other  commercial  plant-food  ma- 
terials. 

"  Germany  imports  great  quantities  of  wheat,  corn,  oil 
cake,  and  phosphates,  and  thus  enriches  her  cultivated 
soil,  and  Germany's  principal  export  is  two  billion  pounds 
of  sugar,  which  contains  no  plant  food  of  value,  but  only 
carbon,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen,  secured  from  air  and  water 
by  the  sugar  beet. 

"  Denmark  produces  four  million  bushels  of  wheat,  im- 
ports five  million  bushels  of  wheat,  fifteen  million  bushels 
of  corn,  fifteen  million  bushels  of  barley,  eight  hundred 
million  pounds  of  oil  cake,  eight  hundred  million  pounds 
of  mill  feed,  and  other  food  stuffs,  phosphate,  etc.,  and  ex- 
ports one  hundred  and  seventy-five  million  pounds  of  but- 
ter, which  contains  no  plant  food  of  value,  but  sells  for 
much  more  than  these  imports  cost. 

"Italy  applies  to  her  soils  every  year  about  a  million 
tons  of  phosphates,  which  contain  nearly  twice  as  much 
phosphorus  as  is  removed  from  the  land  in  all  the  crops 
harvested  and  sold  from  the  farms  of  Italy. 

"  The  very  good  yields  of  the  crops  of  New  England 
are  attributable  to  large  use  of  fertilizing  materials,  in 
part  made  from  food  stuffs  shipped  in  from  the  West ;  and 
the  high  development  of  certain  lands  of  Europe  and  New 
England  has  been  possible  under  the  system  followed  only 
because  the  areas  concerned  are  small.  Thus,  the  average 
acreage  of  corn  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  is  less 
than  three  townships,  or  less  than  one-tenth  as  much  corn 
land  in  the  two  States  as  the  area  of  single  counties  in 
the  Illinois  corn-belt.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  *  Egypt ' 
we  have  out  West,  Miss  West?  " 


S42  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Out  West,  Miss  West,"  she  repeated.  "  That  is  too 
much  repetition  of  the  same  word  to  make  a  good  sentence. 
I  like  '  Miss  Adelaide '  better ;  I  do  get  tired  of  hearing 
West  and  Westover  over  and  over.  Yes,  I  have  heard  of 
the  '  Egypt '  you  have  out  West.  Is  it  near  Illinois  ?  " 

"  Near  Illinois?  Why,  Miss  Adelaide,  I  am  surprised 
that  you  should  even  know  about  the  crop  yields  of  Rhode 
Island  and  not  know  where  *  Egypt J  is.  Let  me  inform 
you  that  *  Egypt '  is  in  Illinois,  and  our  *  Egypt '  is  a 
country  as  large  as  thirteen  states  the  size  of  Rhode 
Island.  Cairo  is  the  Capital,  and  Alexandria,  Thebes,  and 
Joppa  are  all  near  by.  Tamm  and  Buncombe,  and  Gore- 
ville  and  Omega  are  also  among  our  promising  cities  of 
*  Egypt,'  although  you  may  not  so  easily  associate  them 
with  the  ancient  world." 

"  Well  I  know  where  Cairo  is,"  Adelaide  replied,  "  but 
if  your  *  Egypt '  is  on  the  map  you  will  have  to  show  me. 
I  know  now  that  *  Egypt '  is  in  Southern  Illinois,  but  how 
do  you  separate  *  Egypt J  from  the  rest  of  the  State?  " 

"  We  make  no  such  separation,"  said  Percy.  "  But  to 
find  *  Egypt J  on  the  map,  you  need  only  take  the  State 
of  Illinois  and  subtract  therefrom  all  that  part  of  the  corn 
belt  situated  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  west 
line  of  Indiana.  The  southern  point  of  '  Egypt '  is  at 
Cairo,  the  Capital,  and  it  is  bounded  on  the  east,  south, 
and  west,  by  the  Wabash,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Mississippi; 
but  the  north  line  is  not  only  imaginary,  but  it  is  movable. 
In  fact  it  is  always  just  a  few  miles  farther  south,  but  I 
think  all  *  Egyptians  '  will  agree  that  a  sand  bar  which  is 
being  formed  below  Cairo  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi is  truly  *  Egyptian '  territory.  If  you  ever  visit 
in  the  West  do  not  fail  to  see  *  Egypt.' 

"  I  really  hope  I  may,  sometime,"  she  replied.  "  We 
have  relatives  in  the  West,  some  of  whom  claim  to  live  in 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING 

Tennessee,  while  others  live  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri; 
but  I  think  possibly  they  may  all  be  *  Egyptians,'  from 
what  you  have  told  me  about  the  vast  area  of  that  great 
fairy  empire.  I  know  I  would  dearly  love  to  go  there. 
"  But  what  is  « Egypt '  really?  " 

" « Egypt '  is  the  wheat  belt  and  the  fruit  belt  of  Illi- 
nois," Percy  continued.  "One  of  the  grand  old  men  of 
Illinois,  Colonel  N.  B.  Morrison,  who  was  for  years  a 
trustee  of  the  State  University,  used  to  be  called  upon  for 
an  address  whenever  he  was  present  at  Convocation.  He 
always  stated  proudly  that  he  lived  in  the  '  Heart  of 
Egypt.'  He  said  the  soil  there  was  not  so  rich  perhaps 
as  in  the  corn  belt,  but  that  with  plenty  of  hard  work  they 
were  able  to  live  and  to  produce  the  finest  fruit  and  the 
greatest  men  in  America.  He  said  they  had  to  work  both 
the  top  and  bottom  of  their  soil,  and  he  explained  that 
they  harvested  wheat  and  apples  from  the  top,  and  then 
went  down  about  600  feet  and  harvested  ten  thousand 
tons  of  coal  to  the  acre,  and  still  left  enough  to  support 
the  earth.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  when  he  was  born 
there  was  not  a  mile  of  railroad  in  the  United  States,  and 
that  he  had,  during  his  own  lifetime,  witnessed  the  practi- 
cal agricultural  ruin  of  almost  whole  States.  He  used  to 
plead  for  the  University  to  send  some  of  her  scientific 
men  to  help  them  to  solve  the  problem  of  restoring  the 
fertility  of  their  soils  down  in  '  Egypt ' ;  and  I  am  glad 
to  say  that  finally  the  state  appropriated  sufficient  funds 
so  that  the  Illinois  Experiment  Station  is  rapidly  secur- 
ing the  exact  information  needed  to  make  those  Southern 
Illinois  lands  richer  than  they  ever  were. 

"  I  spent  several  days  in  *  Egypt '  last  month  and 
I  am  planning  to  make  another  trip  down  there  next 
week  before  deciding  definitely  about  purchasing  our  poor- 
land  farm.  I  am  not  sure  but  the  land  of  'Egypt'  is  as 


244  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

poor  as  we  ought  to  try  to  build  up,  considering  our  lim- 
ited means." 

"Oh,  do  you  think  so?  But  papa's  land  is  not  so 
poor,  is  it  ?  " 

"  No,  it  is  not  so  poor  in  mineral  plant  food  on  the 
sloping  areas,  but  even  there  it  is  extremely  poor  in  hu- 
mus and  nitrogen.  However,  I  fear  I  could  not  enjoy 
farming  in  irregular  patches  of  five  or  ten  acres,  and  the 
level  lands  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  are  so  exceedingly 
poor  that  much  time  and  money  and  work  will  be  re- 
quired to  put  them  on  a  paying  basis.  There  would  be 
no  pleasure  or  satisfaction  in  merely  robbing  other  farms 
to  build  up  mine,  as  some  of  the  prosperous  truck  farm- 
ers and  dairymen  are  doing.  I  should  want  to  practice  a 
system  of  soil  improvement  of  unlimited  application,  so 
that  it  would  not  be  a  curse  to  the  agricultural  people,  as 
is  the  case  with  the  man  who  builds  up  his  farm  only  at 
the  expense  of  other  farms. 

"  We  have  been  speaking  of  the  development  of  agri- 
culture on  the  small  tracts  of  cultivable  land  in  the  great 
manufacturing  states  of  New  England.  But,  if  we  would 
make  a  fair  comparison  with  a  State  like  Illinois,  we 
should  consider  some  great  agricultural  State,  as  Georgia, 
for  example,  which  is  also  one  of  the  original  thirteen. 
Georgia  is  a  larger  state  than  Illinois,  and  Georgia  cul- 
tivates as  many  acres  of  corn  and  cotton  as  we  cultivate 
in  corn.  But  Georgia  land  cannot  be  covered  with  fer- 
tilizer made  from  Illinois  corn,  nor  even  with  seaweed 
and  fish-scrap  from  the  ocean.  Her  agriculture  must  be 
an  independent  agriculture,  just  as  the  agriculture  of 
Russia,  India  and  China  must  be,  just  as  the  agriculture 
of  Illinois  must  be,  and  as  the  agriculture  of  all  the  great 
agricultural  States  must  be.  What  is  the  result  to  date? 
The  average  yield  of  corn  in  Georgia  is  down  to  eleven 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING  245 

bushels  per  acre.  This  is  not  for  half  of  one  township, 
but  the  average  of  four  million  acres  for  the  last  ten 
years;  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Georgia  pays 
out  more  for  the  common  acidulated  manufactured  so- 
called  complete  commercial  fertilizer  than  any  other 
State." 

"  That  is  appalling,"  said  Adelaide,  "  but  still  some 
large  countries  are  building  up  their  lands,  such  as  those 
of  Europe." 

"  In  large  part  by  the  same  methods  as  the  New  Eng- 
land truckers  and  dairymen  are  following,"  he  replied; 
"  and,  in  comparison  with  the  area  and  resources  of  their 
colonies  and  of  the  great  other  new  countries  upon  which 
they  draw  for  food  and  fertilizer,  they  are  fairly  compar- 
able with  the  New  England  States  in  this  country.  Even 
the  Empire  of  Germany  is  only  four-fifths  as  large  as 
Texas.  The  only  country  of  Europe  at  all  comparable 
with  the  United  States  is  Russia,  and  in  that  great  coun- 
try the  average  yield  of  wheat  for  the  last  twenty  years  is 
eight  and  one-fourth  bushels  per  acre,  even  though,  as  a 
general  practice,  the  land  is  allowed  to  lie  fallow  every 
third  year.  The  average  yield  for  the  five  famine  years 
that  have  occurred  during  the  twenty-year  period  was  six 
and  one-quarter  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre." 

"  That  is  wretched,"  said  Adelaide.  "  I  know  about 
the  Russian  famines,  for  we  have  made  contributions 
through  our  church  for  their  relief,  but  that  condition  can 
surely  never  come  to  this  great  rich  new  country,  can  it?  " 

"  It  will  come  just  as  certainly  as  we  allow  our  soil 
fertility  to  decrease  and  our  population  to  increase. 
As  a  nation  we  have  scarcely  lifted  a  hand  yet  to  stop 
the  waste  of  fertility  or  to  restore  exhausted  lands, 
practically  every  effort  put  forth  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment along  agricultural  lines  having  been  directed  toward 


246  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

better  seeds,  control  of  injurious  insects  and  fungus 
diseases,  exploitation  of  new  lands  by  drainage  and  irri- 
gation, popularly  called  'reclamation,'  although  applied 
only  to  rich  virgin  soils  which  can  certainly  be  brought 
under  cultivation  at  any  future  time,  either  by  the  gov- 
ernment or  by  private  enterprise.  But  why  should  not 
the  Federal  Government  make  all  necessary  provisions  to 
furnish  ground  limestone  and  phosphate  rock  at  the  actual 
cost  of  quarrying,  grinding  and  transporting,  in  order 
that  farmers  on  these  old  depleted  soils  may  be  encour- 
aged to  adopt  systems  of  soil  improvement;  or  even  com- 
pelled to  adopt  such  systems,  just  as  they  are  compelled 
to  build  school  houses,  bridges  and  battleships  ?  All  of  the 
people  would  receive  benefit  from  such  legislation." 

"Perhaps  the  Government  would  do  this,"  said  Ade- 
laide, "  if  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  would  recom- 
mend it." 

"  I  have  heard  of  the  *big  if,9 "  Percy  replied  slowly, 
"  but  I  am  afraid  this  if  will  beat  the  record  for  bigness. 
His  soil  theorists  continue  to  assure  him  that  soils  do  not 
wear  out,  no  matter  how  heavily  cropped,  if  they  are  only 
rotated  and  cultivated;  and  to  support  their  theories 
they  have  forsaken  the  data  from  the  most  carefully  con- 
ducted and  long  continued  scientific  investigations  and 
indulged  in  a  game  of  guessing  that  the  increasing  pro- 
ductiveness of  a  few  small  countries  of  Europe  is  not  due 
to  any  necessary  addition  of  plant  food. 

"  But  here  is  the  depot,  and  I  have  taken  almost  an 
hour  to  drive  three  miles.  If  I  had  hurried,  you  might 
have  been  back  home  by  this  time.  I  am  afraid  I  have 
been  selfish  in  allowing  the  team  to  walk  nearly  all  of  the 
way,  but  they  will  at  least  be  fresh  for  the  home  trip, 
which  you  promised  to  make  in  less  than  twenty  minutes, 
I  remember.  Now,  if  you  will  hold  the  lines,  I  will  run 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING  247 

into  the  store  to  get  the  thread.  I  remember  the  kind; 
I  often  do  such  errands  for  mother." 

"I  will  wait  while  you  get  your  ticket  and  find  out  if 
the  train  is  on  time,"  said  Adelaide,  as  Percy  returned 
with  the  thread. 

"  At  least  fifty  minutes  late,"  he  reported,  "  and  the 
agent  said  he  was  glad  of  it,  for  he  would  need  about 
that  time  to  make  out  such  a  long-jointed  ticket  as  I  want. 
I  am  rather  glad,  too,  for  I  can  watch  you  to  the  turn 
in  the  road  on  the  hill,  which  must  be  a  mile  or  more, 
and  I  will  time  you.  You  can  have  six  minutes  to  make 
that  corner." 

"  You  mean  I  can  have  six  minutes  to  get  out  of  sight," 
she  suggested. 

"  I  think  you  are  out  of  sight,"  he  ventured. 

Adelaide  reddened.  "  I  shall  have  to  tell  mother  what 
slang  you  use,"  she  said. 

"  I  hope  you  will,"  he  retorted,  "  for  I  have  watched 
her  watch  you  and  I  am  sure  she  will  agree  with  me. 
But  I  do  feel  that  I  owe  you  a  sincere  apology  for  taking 
up  the  time  we  have  had  together  with  this  long  discus- 
sion of  the  things  that  are  of  such  special  interest  to  me. 
I  have  been  alone  with  my  mother  so  much  and  she  is 
always  so  ready  and  so  able,  I  may  add,  to  discuss  any 
sort  of  business  matter  that  I  fear  I  have  been  forgetful 
of  your  forbearance." 

"  But  you  really  have  not,"  Adelaide  replied.  "  I  keep 
books  for  papa,  and  I  am  very  much  interested  in  these 
social  and  economic  questions  which  are  so  fundamental 
to  the  perpetuity  of  our  State  and  National  prosperity. 
I  have  been  both  entertained  and  instructed  by  these  dis- 
cussions; and  I  might  say  honored,  too,  that  you  do  not 
consider  me  too  young  and  foolish  to  talk  of  serious  sub- 
jects." 


248  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  I  am  sure  it  is  kind  of  you  to  make  good  excuses  for 
me.  You  have,  at  any  rate,  relieved  my  mind  of  some  bur- 
den, but  I  am  sure  you  are  the  only  woman  I  have  ever 
known,  except  my  mother,  who  could  endure  discussions 
of  this  sort.  I  have  so  greatly  enjoyed  the  few  short 
visits  I  have  had  with  you.  I  wish  I  might  write  to  you 
and  I  shall  be  so  much  interested  to  learn  what  success 
your  father  has  if  he  begins  a  system  of  soil  improve- 
ment. Would  it  be  presuming  to  hope  that  I  might  hear 
from  you  also  ?  " 

"  I  am  papa's  stenographer,"  she  replied,  "  and  per- 
haps he  will  dictate  and  I  will  write.  We  will  be  glad  to 
hear  of  your  safe  return, —  and  you, —  you  might  ask 
papa.  Now,  I  shall  soon  be  out  of  sight." 

"  Please  don't,"  begged  Percy.  "  It  is  still  forty-five 
minutes  *  at  least,'  before  the  train  comes.  Let  me  go 
a  piece  with  you.  I  will  leave  my  suit-case  here,  and 
with  nothing  to  carry  I  shall  easily  walk  a  mile  in  twenty 
minutes.  May  I  drive,  please?  " 

"  No,  I  will  drive.  I  want  to  ask  you  another  ques- 
tion, and  I  am  afraid  you  will  drive  too  fast. 

"  You  mentioned  some  long-continued  scientific  investi- 
gations which  I  assumed  referred  to  the  yield  of  crops. 
What  were  they  ?  " 

"  I  meant  such  investigations  as  those  at  Rothamsted 
and  also  those  conducted  at  Pennsylvania  State  College. 
I  have  some  of  the  exact  data  here  in  my  note  book. 

"  In  1848,  Sir  John  Lawes  and  Sir  Henry  Gilbert  be- 
gan at  Rothamsted,  England,  two  four-year  rotations. 
One  was  turnips,  barley,  fallow  and  wheat;  and  the  other 
was  turnips,  barley,  clover  and  wheat.  Whenever  the 
clover  failed,  which  has  been  frequent,  beans  were  sub- 
stituted in  order  that  a  legume  crop  should  be  grown 
every  fourth  year. 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING  »49 

"  The  average  of  the  last  twenty  years  represents  the 
average  yields  about  fifty  years  from  the  beginning  of 
this  rotation. 

"  In  the  legume  system,  as  an  average  of  the  last 
twenty  years,  the  use  of  mineral  plant  food  has  increased 
the  yield  of  turnips  from  less  than  one-half  ton  to  more 
than  twelve  tons ;  increased  the  yield  of  barley  from  thir- 
teen and  seven-tenths  bushels  to  twenty-two  and  two- 
tenths  bushels ;  increased  the  yield  of  clover  (when  grown) 
from  less  than  one-half  ton  to  almost  two  tons ;  increased 
the  yield  of  beans  (when  grown)  from  sixteen  bushels  to 
twenty-eight  and  three-tenths  bushels,  and  increased  the 
yield  of  wheat  from  twenty-four  and  three-tenths  bushels 
to  thirty-eight  and  four-tenths  bushels  per  acre. 

"  In  the  legume  system  the  minerals  applied  have  more 
than  doubled  the  value  of  the  crops  produced,  have  paid 
their  cost,  and  made  a  net  profit  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
per  cent,  on  the  investment,  in  direct  comparison  with 
the  unfertilized  land.  During  the  first  thirty-six  years, 
where  the  turnips  were  fed  on  the  land  in  the  legume  sys- 
tem the  addition  of  $29.52  worth  of  phosphorus  produced 
increased  yields  worth  $230.39. 

"  If  we  compare  the  average  yield  of  turnips,  barley, 
clover  and  wheat  of  the  last  twenty  years  with  the  yield 
of  turnips  in  1848,  barley  in  1849,  clover  in  1850  and 
wheat  in  1851,  we  find  that  on  the  unfertilized  land  in  this 
rotation  of  crops  in  fifty  years  the  yield  of  turnips  has 
decreased  from  ten  tons  to  one-half  ton,  and  the  yield 
of  barley  has  decreased  from  forty-six  to  fourteen  bush- 
els, the  yield  of  clover  has  decreased  from  two  and  eight- 
tenths  tons  per  acre  to  less  than  one-half  ton,  while  the 
yield  of  wheat  has  decreased  only  from  thirty  bushels  to 
twenty-four  bushels.  As  a  general  average  the  late 
yields  are  only  one-third  as  large  as  they  were  fifty  years 


350  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

before  on  the  same  land.  Wheat  grown  once  in  four 
years  has  been  the  only  crop  worth  raising  on  the  unfer- 
tilized land  during  the  last  twenty  years,  and  even  the 
wheat  crop  has  distinctly  decreased  in  yield;  although 
where  mineral  plant  food  was  applied  the  yield  has  in- 
creased from  thirty  bushels  in  1851  to  thirty-eight  bush- 
els as  an  average  of  the  last  twenty  years.  In  the  fallow 
rotation  on  the  unfertilized  land  the  yield  of  wheat  av- 
eraged thirty-four  and  five-tenths  bushels  during  the  first 
twenty  years  (1848  to  1867)  and  twenty-three  and  five- 
tenths  bushels  during  the  last  twenty  years. 

"  On  another  Rothamsted  field  the  phosphorus  actually 
removed  in  fifty-five  crops  from  well-fertilized  land  is  two- 
thirds  as  much  as  the  total  phosphorus  now  contained  in 
the  plowed  soil  of  adjoining  untreated  land. 

"  In  the  early  80's  the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Ex- 
periment Station  began  a  four-year  crop  rotation,  in- 
cluding corn,  oats,  wheat  and  mixed  clover  and  timothy. 

"  There  are  five  plots  in  each  of  four  different  fields 
that  have  received  no  applications  of  plant  food  from  the 
beginning.  Thus,  every  year  the  crops  are  carefully 
harvested  and  weighed  from  twenty  measured  plots  of 
ground  that  receive  no  treatment  except  the  rotation  of 
crops.  The  difference  between  the  average  of  the  first 
twelve  years  and  the  average  of  the  second  twelve  years 
should  represent  the  actual  change  in  productive  power 
during  a  period  of  twelve  years.  These  averages  show 
that  the  yield  of  corn  has  decreased  from  forty-one  and 
seven-tenths  bushels  to  twenty-seven  and  seven-tenths 
bushels ;  that  the  yield  of  oats  has  decreased  from  thirty- 
six  and  seven-tenths  bushels  to  twenty-five  bushels,  that 
the  yield  of  wheat  has  decreased  only  from  thirteen  and 
three-tenths  bushels  to  twelve  and  eight-tenths  bushels ; 
and  that  the  yield  of  hay  has  decreased  from  three  thou- 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING  251 

sand  seventy  pounds  to  two  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eighty  pounds. 

"  As  a  general  average  of  these  four  crops  the  annual 
value  of  produce  from  one  acre  has  decreased  from  $11.05 
to  $8.18.  Here  we  have  information  which  is  almost  if 
not  quite  equal  in  value  to  that  from  the  Agdell  rotation 
field  at  Rothamsted.  While  the  Rothamsted  experiments 
cover  a  period  of  sixty  years,  each  crop  was  grown  but 
once  in  four  years;  whereas,  in  the  Pennsylvania  experi- 
ments there  have  been  four  different  series  of  plots,  so 
that  in  twenty-four  years  there  have  been  twenty-four 
crops  of  corn,  twenty-four  crops  of  oats,  twenty-four 
crops  of  wheat  and  twenty-four  crops  of  hay. 

"  Under  this  four-year  rotation  the  value  of  the  crops 
produced  has  decreased  twenty-six  per  cent,  during  these 
years.  What  influence  will  impress  that  fact  upon  the 
minds  of  American  landowners?  A  loss  amounting  to 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  productive  power  of  the 
land  in  a  rotation  with  clover  seeded  every  fourth  year! 
This  one  fact  is  the  mathematical  result  of  four  hundred 
and  eighty  other  facts  obtained  from  twenty  differ- 
ent pieces  of  measured  land  during  a  period  of  twenty- 
four  years. 

"  As  an  average  of  these  twenty-four  years,  the  addi- 
tion of  mineral  plant  food  produced  increases  in  crop 
yields  above  the  unfertilized  land  as  follows : 

Corn  increased  forty-five  per  cent. 
Oats  increased  thirty-two  per  cent. 
Wheat  increased  forty-two  per  cent. 
Hay  increased  seventy-seven  per  cent. 

"  As  a  general  average  of  the  four  crops  for  the 
twenty-four  years,  the  produce  where  mineral  plant  food 


£52  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

is  applied,  was  forty-nine  per  cent,  above  the  yields  of  the 
unfertilized  land,  although  the  same  rotation  of  crops 
was  practiced  in  both  cases." 

'*  Those  are  some  of  the  absolute  facts  of  science,  se- 
cured for  practical  application  in  the  adoption  and 
development  of  definite  systems  of  permanent  prosperous 
agriculture,  and  they  should  be  made  to  serve  this  great- 
est and  most  important  industry,  just  as  the  established 
facts  of  mathematical  and  physical  science  are  made  to 
serve  in  engineering." 

"  I  am  glad  to  know  about  those  long-continued  ex- 
periments," said  Adelaide.  "  They  are  of  fascinating 
interest.  I  have  been  so  sorry  for  grandma  and  for  papa 
and  mamma,  because  of  their  increasing  discouragement 
over  our  farm.  I  do  hope  we  may  profit  from  this  fund 
of  accumulated  information  which  has  already  been  se- 
cured from  long  years  of  investigation.  Surely  we  must 
endeavor  to  avoid  in  America  the  awful  conditions  that 
already  exist  in  the  other  agricultural  countries,  where 
the  lands  are  depleted  and  the  people  are  brought  to 
greater  poverty  than  even  here  in  Virginia." 

"  And  the  people  of  influence  and  education  must  help 
the  farm  and  farmer,"  said  Percy.  "  The  chief  thought 
of  the  average  farmer  is  and  must  be  directed  to  the  im- 
mediate problem  of  making  a  living  for  himself  and  fam- 
ily. Not  he  but  the  statesmen  are  the  chosen  guardians 
of  the  Nation's  future  prosperity.  Furthermore,  farm- 
ing, as  a  rule,  is  not  a  highly  remunerative  occupation,  and 
to  a  large  extent  the  fortune  of  the  farmer  is  bound  up 
with  the  increase  or  depreciation  in  the  market  value  of 
his  land.  The  soil  robbing  and  land  ruin  of  this  country 
have  been  due  not  only  to  the  farmer's  lack  of  knowledge, 
but  also  to  his  lack  of  profit;  and  the  influential  men  of 
America  should  see  to  it  that  the  farmer  receives  for  his 


GUESSING  AND  GASSING  253 

produce  a  price  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  make  substantial 
investments  in  the  improvement  of  his  own  soil  in  perman- 
ent systems  of  agriculture,  even  if  tariffs  must  be  made 
more  favorable  to  agriculture." 

"  But  we  have  reached  the  turn,"  said  Adelaide,  "  and 
you  have  a  mile  to  walk.  How  much  time  have  you  ?  " 

"  Thirty  minutes  yet,"  said  Percy.  "  Wait  just  a 
moment.  Have  you  read  Lincoln's  stories  ?  " 

"  Many  of  them,  yes." 

"  Here  is  the  best  one  he  ever  told ;  I  have  copied  it  on 
a  card.  He  told  it  to  a  meeting  of  farmers  at  the  close 
of  an  address  in  which  he  urged  them  to  study  the  science 
of  agriculture  and  to  adopt  better  methods  of  farming : 

"  '  An  Eastern  monarch  once  charged  his  wise  men  to 
invent  him  a  sentence  to  be  ever  in  view,  and  which  should 
be  true  and  appropriate  in  all  times  and  situations. 
They  presented  him  the  words,  **  And  this,  too,  shall  pass 
away."  How  much  it  expresses!  How  chastening  in 
the  hour  of  pride !  How  consoling  in  the  depths  of  afflic- 
tion !  "  And  tliis,  too,  shall  pass  away"  And  yet  let 
us  hope  it  is  not  quite  true.  Let  us  hope,  rather,  that  by 
the  best  cultivation  of  the  physical  world  beneath  and 
around  us,  and  the  best  intellectual  and  moral  world 
within  us,  we  shall  secure  an  individual,  social  and  politi- 
cal prosperity  and  happiness,  whose  course  shall  be  on- 
ward and  upward,  and  which,  while  the  earth  endures, 
shall  not  pass  away.' " 

"  I  agree  with  you  that  it  is  his  best  story,"  said  Ade- 
laide, as  Percy  finished  reading  and  placed  the  card  in 
her  hand.  "  Now  you  must  go  or  I  shall  insist  upon  tak- 
ing you  back  to  the  station." 

"  I  shall  stand  here  and  time  you  till  you  reach  the 
next  turn,"  he  replied.  "  Then  you  will  be  in  sight  of 
Westover.  One !  Two !  Three !  Go ! " 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE  DIAGNOSIS  AND  PRESCRIPTION. 

WlNTERBINE,  ILLINOIS, 

December  4,  1903. 
Mr.  T.  O.  Thornton, 
Blairville,  Va. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: — I  beg  to  report  that  I  returned 
home  a  few  days  ago  and  found  my  mother  well 
and  busy,  as  usual.     We  have  definitely  decided 
that  we  will  not  accept  your  kind  offer  to  sell  us  a  part 
of  your  farm,  but  we  appreciate,  nevertheless,  the  sacri- 
fice,  at  least   from  the    standpoint   of  sentiment,  which 
Mrs.  Thornton  and  Miss  Russell  were  willing  to  make  in 
order  to  permit  us  to  secure  such  a  farm  as  we  might 
want  in  a  splendid  situation. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  thinking  very  seriously  of 
purchasing  a  farm  in  Southern  Illinois.  My  mother  much 
prefers  to  remain  in  Illinois,  and  for  some  reasons  I  have 
the  same  preference  on  her  account. 

While  in  Washington  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  find 
that  a  soil  survey  had  been  completed  for  your  county 
and  also  that  a  partial  ultimate  analysis  had  been  made 
of  the  common  loam  soil  of  your  farm,  such  as  we  sam- 
pled. Following  is  a  statement  of  the  analysis : 

610  pounds  of  phosphorus 
18,200  pounds  of  potassium 
1,200  pounds  of  magnesium 
8,430  pounds  of  calcium 

254 


THE  DIAGNOSIS  AND  PRESCRIPTION      255 

These  figures  show  the  number  of  pounds  per  acre  for 
the  surface  soil  to  a  depth  of  six  and  two-thirds  inches, — 
that  is,  for  two  million  pounds  of  soil. 

As  compared  with  a  normal  fertile  soil,  your  land  is 
very  deficient  in  phosphorus  and  magnesium,  and,  as  you 
know,  the  soil  is  acid.  It  is  better  supplied  with  potas- 
sium than  with  any  other  important  element. 

I  would  suggest  that  you  make  liberal  use  of  magne- 
sian  limestone, —  at  least  two  tons  per  acre  every  four  or 
five  years, —  and  the  initial  application  might  better  be 
five  or  even  ten  tons  per  acre  if  you  are  ready  to  Jnake 
such  an  investment. 

I  am  sorry  that  the  nitrogen  content  of  the  soil  was 
not  determined,  or  at  least  not  published  in  the  bulletin. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  your  soil  is  ex- 
tremely deficient  in  organic  matter  and  nitrogen,  and  you 
will  understand  that  liberal  use  should  be  made  of  legume 
crops.  The  known  nitrogen  content  of  legumes  and 
other  crops  will  be  a  help  to  you  in  planning  your  crop 
rotation  and  the  disposition  of  the  crops  grown. 

As  to  phosphorus,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  long 
run  fine-ground  rock  phosphate  will  prove  the  best  in- 
vestment; but  for  a  few  years  it  might  be  best  to  make 
some  use  of  acid  phosphate  in  addition  to  the  raw  rock, 
at  least  until  you  are  ready  to  begin  turning  under  more 
organic  matter  with  the  phosphate. 

There  is  only  one  other  suggestion:  If  you  wish  to 
make  a  start  toward  better  crops  as  soon  as  possible,  you 
may  well  use  some  kainit,  say  six  hundred  pounds  per 
acre  every  four  or  five  years,  preferably  applied  with  the 
phosphate.  In  the  absence  of  decaying  organic  matter, 
the  potassium  of  the  soil  becomes  available  very  slowly. 
The  kainit  furnishes  both  potassium  and  magnesium  in 
soluble  form  and  it  also  contains  sulfur,  sodium  and  chlorin. 


256  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

As  soon  as  you  can  provide  plenty  of  decaying  organic 
matter  you  will  probably  discontinue  the  use  of  both  kainit 
and  acid  phosphate.  If  you  sell  only  grains  and  animal 
products,  the  amount  of  potassium  sold  from  the  farm  is 
very  small  compared  with  your  supply  of  that  element, 
which  would  be  sufficient  for  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn 
per  acre  for  seven  hundred  years. 

I  have  some  doubt  if  it  will  be  worth  the  expense  in- 
volved to  have  the  samples  of  subsurface  and  subsoil  an- 
alyzed at  this  time,  but  you  might  save  them  for  future 
use  if  desired. 

I  shall  always  appreciate  the  kindness  shown  me  by 
being  permitted  to  enjoy  your  hospitality  and  to  profit 
from  the  information  you  were  so  able  to  give  me  con- 
cerning the  history  and  general  character  of  your  lands. 

My  mother  asks  to  have  her  kind  regards  extended  to 
you  and  yours. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 
PERCY  JOHNSTON. 

WEST-OVER,    January  2,  1904>. 

Percy  Johnston,  Esq., 

Winterbine,  111. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND: — We  were  all  pleased  to  receive 
your  letter  informing  us  of  your  safe  journey  back  to 
Illinois.  I  had  hoped  that  you  might  find  a  piece  of  land 
here  in  the  East  which  would  suit  you ;  but  I  am  not  sur- 
prised that  you  and  your  mother  should  prefer  to  remain 
in  Illinois,  because  of  your  former  associations  and  your 
better  knowledge  of  the  Western  conditions.  Northern 
men  who  come  South  often  have  serious  difficulty  to  man- 
age our  negro  labor. 

I  am  surprised,  however,  that  you  were  able  to  pur- 


THE  DIAGNOSIS  AND  PRESCRIPTION      257 

chase,  even  in  Southern  Illinois,  such  prairie  land  as  you 
describe  for  the  price  of  $18  per  acre.  I  suppose  $190 
an  acre  for  your  corn-belt  farm  was  a  good  price,  al- 
though it  is  commonly  reported  to  us  that  Illinois  land  is 
selling  for  $150  to  $200  an  acre. 

Now,  in  regard  to  correspondence  with  Adelaide,  let 
me  say  that  we  could  have  no  objection  whatever,  except 
that  it  might  be  misunderstood,  more  especially,  of  course, 
by  Professor  Barstow.  I  do  not  think  I  mentioned  it  to 
you,  but  the  fact  is  that  the  Professor  and  Adelaide  are 
essentially  betrothed.  I  do  not  know  that  the  final  details 
are  perfected,  but  doubtless  they  are,  for  they  were  much 
together  during  the  Christmas  weeks.  The  Barstows,  as 
you  probably  know,  are  still  among  the  most  prominent 
people  of  North  Carolina.  Adelaide  is  young  yet  and 
we  respect  her  reticence,  but  her  mother  and  I  have  both 
given  our  consent  and  Professor  Barstow  has  every  rea- 
son to  be  satisfied  with  the  reception  he  invariably  re- 
ceives from  Adelaide. 

I  only  mention  this  matter  to  you  that  you  may  un- 
derstand why  misunderstanding  might  arise  in  case  of 
such  correspondence  as  you  suggest,  even  though,  as  Ade- 
laide has  explained,  she  has  very  naturally  become  inter- 
ested temporarily  in  some  of  the  economic  and  social  ques- 
tions relating  to  agriculture,  and  would  unquestionably 
read  your  letters  concerning  these  state  and  national 
problems  with  continued  interest.  I  shall  hope,  however, 
that  she  may  still  have  that  satisfaction,  for  I  am  very 
deeply  interested  in  all  such  questions,  and  I  am  par- 
ticularly interested  to  know  more  of  the  details  of  your 
Southern  Illinois  farm,  including  the  invoice  of  the  soil, 
which  you  say  has  been  taken  by  your  Experiment  Sta- 
tion, and  especially  your  definite  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  land.  I  hope  the  name  you  have  chosen  for 


258  THE  STORY  OE  THE  SOIL 

your  farm  is  not  so  appropriate  as  it  would  be  for  some 
of  our  old  Virginia  farms. 

I  shall  also  be  under  renewed  obligation  to  you  if  I 
may  occasionally  submit  questions  concerning  the  best 
plans  for  the  restoration  of  Westover  to  its  former  pro- 
ductiveness. I  have  decided,  at  least,  to  make  another 
trial  with  alfalfa  next  summer,  following  the  valuable 
suggestions  you  gave  me. 

In  closing  let  me  renew  my  assurance  of  our  deep  grati- 
tude for  the  special  service  you  so  nobly  rendered  when 
fiendish  danger  threatened  my  daughter.  We  shall  al- 
ways regard  you  as  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  type. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

CHAELES  WEST. 

Percy  read  this  letter  hurriedly  to  the  end,  and  then 
slowly  reread  it.  His  mother  noticed  that  he  absent- 
mindedly  replaced  the  letter  in  the  envelope  instead  of 
reading  it  to  her,  as  was  his  custom.  However,  he  laid 
the  letter  by  her  plate  and  talked  with  her  about  the 
corn-shelling  which  was  to  begin  as  soon  as  the  corn 
sheller  could  be  brought  from  the  neighbor's  where  Percy 
had  been  helping  to  haul  the  corn  from  the  sheller  to  the 
elevator  at  Winterbine.  Dinner  finished,  he  hurried  out 
to  complete  the  preparations  for  the  afternoon's  work. 
We  have  no  right  to  follow  him.  His  mother  only  saw 
that  he  went  to  the  little  granary  where  a  few  loads  of 
corn  were  to  be  stored  for  future  use.  Yes,  she  saw  that 
he  closed  the  door  as  he  entered.  Not  even  his  mother 
could  see  her  son  again  a  child.  Women  and  children 
weep,  not  men.  The  heart  strings  draw  tight  and  tighter 
until  they  tear  and  snap.  The  body  is  racked  with  the 
anguish  of  the  mind.  The  form  reels  and  sinks  to  the 
floor.  The  head  bows  low.  Pent  up  tears  fall  like  rain. 


THE  DIAGNOSIS  AND  PRESCRIPTION      259 

No,  that  cannot  be.  Men  do  not  shed  tears.  If  they 
are  mental  cowards  and  physical  brutes,  they  pass  from 
hence  by  a  short  and  easy  route  and  leave  the  burdens  of 
life  to  their  wives  and  mothers  and  disgraced  families. 
If  they  are  Christian  men,  they  seek  the  only  source  of 
help. 

Mrs.  Johnston  watched  and  waited  —  it  seemed  an 
hour,  but  was  only  a  quarter  of  that  time  till  the  granary 
door  opened  and  she  saw  Percy  pass  to  the  barn  with  a 
step  which  satisfied  her  mother's  eye. 

She  drew  out  the  letter,  and  from  a  life  habit  of  male- 
ing  sure,  pressed  the  envelope  to  see  that  it  contained 
nothing  more.  She  noted  a  slip  of  crumpled  paper  and 
drew  it  out.  Upon  it  was  written  in  a  penciled  scrawl: 

"Her  grandma  has  not  consented." 

She  read  the  letter,  stood  for  a  moment  as  in  medita- 
tion, then  replaced  the  slip  and  letter  in  the  envelope  and 
laid  it  on  Percy's  desk.  The  letter  was  plainly  a  man's 
handwriting.  The  envelope  was  addressed  in  a  bold  hand 
that  was  clearly  not  Mr.  West's  writing. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

PLANNING  FOR  LIFE 

HEART-OF-EGYPT,  ILLINOIS, 

June  16,  1904. 
Mr.  Charles  West, 
Blue  Mound,  Va. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: — I  have  delayed  writing  to  you  in 
regard  to  the  plans  for  Poorland  Farm  until  I 
could  feel  that  we  are  able  at  least  to  make  an 
outline  of  tentative  nature.  The  labor  problem  of  a  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  is,  of  course,  very 
different  from  that  on  forty  acres,  and  we  are  not  yet 
fully  decided  regarding  our  crop  rotation  and  the  dis- 
position of  the  crops  produced  (or  hoped  for).  I  realize 
that  to  rebuild  in  my  life  what  another  has  torn  down 
during  his  life  is  a  task  the  end  of  which  can  hardly  be 
even  dimly  foreshadowed.  Some  friends  are  already  be- 
ginning to  ask  me  what  results  I  am  getting,  and  they 
apparently  feel  that  we  must  succeed  or  fail  with  a  trial 
of  a  full  season.  I  have  said  to  them  that  I  have  no  ob- 
jection whatever  to  discussing  our  plans  at  any  time,  so 
far  as  we  are  yet  able  to  make  plans,  but  that  I  shall  not 
be  ready  to  discuss  results  with  anyone  until  we  begin  to 
secure  crop  yields  in  the  third  rotation.  This  means  that 
I  am  not  expecting  the  benefits  of  a  six-year  rotation  of 
crops  before  the  rotation  has  been  actually  practiced. 
You  will  understand,  of  course,  that  if  all  your  land 
had  been  cropped  with  little  or  no  change,  for  all  its 
history,  you  would  require  six  or  eight  years'  time  before 

260 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  261 

you  would  be  able  to  grow  a  crop  of  corn  on  land  that  had 
been  pastured  for  six  or  eight  years ;  but  some  people  seem 
to  take  it  for  granted  that  one  can  adopt  a  six-year 
rotation  and  enjoy  the  full  benefits  of  it  the  first  season. 

I  remember  that  you  were  surprised  that  I  could  buy 
a  level  upland  farm  even  in  this  part  of  Illinois  for  $18 
an  acre ;  but  you  will  probably  be  more  surprised  to  learn 
that  this  farm  had  not  paid  the  previous  owners  two  per 
cent,  interest  on  $18  an  acre  as  an  average  of  the  last 
five  years.  In  fact,  sixty  acres  of  it  had  grown  no  crops 
for  the  last  five  years.  It  was  largely  managed  by  ten- 
ants on  the  basis  of  share  rent,  and  because  of  this  I  have 
been  able  to  secure  the  records  of  several  years. 

I  at  least  had  some  satisfaction  in  purchasing  this 
farm,  for  the  real  estate  men  were  left  without  a  single 
"  talking  point."  I  insisted  that  I  wanted  the  poorest 
prairie  farm  in  "  Egypt,"  and  whenever  they  began  to 
tell  me  that  the  soil  on  a  certain  farm  was  really  above 
the  average,  or  that  the  land  had  been  well  cared  for  until 
recently,  or  that  it  had  been  fertilized  a  good  deal,  etc., 
I  at  once  informed  them  that  any  advantage  of  that  sort 
completely  disqualified  any  farm  for  me,  and  that  they 
need  not  talk  to  me  about  any  farms  except  those  that 
represented  the  poorest  and  most  abused  in  Southern  Illi- 
nois. 

I  may  say,  however,  that  $20  an  acre  is  about  the  av- 
erage price  of  the  average  land.  I  had  an  option  on  a 
three  hundred  and  sixty  acre  farm  cornering  the  corpora- 
tion limits  of  the  County  Seat  for  $30  an  acre,  and  all 
agreed  that  the  farm  was  above  the  average  in  quality. 

Heart-of-Egypt  is  a  small  station  on  the  double  track 
of  the  Chicago-New  Orleans  line  of  the  Illinois  Central, 
and  there  are  three  other  railroads  passing  through  our 
County  Seat.  Poorland  Farm  is  less  than  two  miles 


262  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

from  Heart-of-Egypt  and  only  five  miles  from  the  County 
Seat,  with  level  roads  to  both. 

As  to  the  soil,  I  may  say  that  in  some  respects  it  is 
poorer  than  yours,  but  in  others  not  so  poor.  The 
amount  of  plant  food  contained  in  six  and  two-thirds 
inches  of  the  surface  soil  of  an  acre,  representing  two 
million  pounds  of  soil,  are  as  follows: 

2,880  pounds  of  nitrogen 

840  pounds  of  phosphorus 
24,940  pounds  of  potassium 
4,690  pounds  of  magnesium 
8,420  pounds  of  calcium 

By  referring  to  the  invoice  of  your  most  common  land 
you  will  see  that  Westover  is  richer  in  phosphorus,  in 
magnesium  and  in  calcium  than  Poorland  Farm.  But, 
while  your  soil  contains  a  half  more  of  that  rare  element 
phosphorus,  ours  contains  a  half  more  of  the  abundant 
element  potassium.  In  the  supply  of  nitrogen  we  have  a 
distinct  advantage,  because  our  soil  contains  nearly 
three  times  as  much  as  your  most  common  cultivated 
land,  and  even  twice  as  much  as  your  level  upland  soil, 
which  you  consider  too  poor  for  farming,  but  in  which 
phosphorus  and  not  nitrogen  must  be  the  first  limiting 
element,  the  same  as  with  ours. 

The  fact  is  that  the  nitrogen  problem  in  the  East  was 
one  of  the  reasons  why  we  have  chosen  to  locate  in  South- 
ern Illinois.  I  am  confident  that  the  level  lands  I  saw 
about  Blairville  and  over  in  Maryland  are  more  deficient 
in  organic  matter  and  nitrogen  than  your  uncultivated 
level  upland,  and  probably  even  more  deficient  than  your 
common  gently  sloping  cultivated  lands,  because  of  your 
long  rotation  with  much  opportunity  for  nitrogen  fixa- 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  263 

tion  by  such  legumes  as  will  grow  in  your  meadows  and 
pastures,  including  the  red  clover  which  you  regularly 
sow,  the  white  clover,  which  is  very  persistent,  and  the 
Japan  clover,  which  it  seems  to  me  has  really  benefited 
you  more  than  the  others. 

To  me  a  difference  in  nitrogen  content  of  two  thou- 
sand pounds  per  acre  signifies  a  good  deal.  It  plainly 
signifies  a  hundred  years  of  "working  the  soil  for  all 
that's  in  it,"  beyond  what  has  been  done  to  our  "  Egypt." 
The  cost  of  two  thousand  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  sodium 
nitrate  would  be  at  least  $300,  and  even  that  would  not 
include  the  organic  matter,  which  has  value  for  its  own 
sake  because  of  the  power  of  its  decomposition  products 
to  liberate  the  mineral  elements  from  the  soil,  as  witness 
the  most  common  upland  soils  of  St.  Mary  county,  Mary- 
land, with  a  phosphorus  content  reduced  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds  per  acre  in  two  million  pounds  of  the 
ignited  soil.  The  ten-inch  plows  of  Maryland,  the  twelve- 
inch  plows  of  Southern  Illinois,  the  fourteen-inch  plows 
of  the  newer  corn  belt  and  the  sixteen-inch  plows  of  the 
regions  of  the  Northwest,  signify  something  as  to  the 
influence  of  organic  matter  upon  the  horsepower  required 
in  tillage;  and  the  organic  matter  also  has  a  value  be- 
cause it  increases  the  power  of  the  soil  to  absorb  and  re- 
tain moisture  and  to  resist  surface  washing  and  "  run- 
ning together  "  to  form  the  hard  surface  crust. 

To  think  of  applying  two  thousand  pounds  of  nitrogen 
by  plowing  under  two  hundred  tons  of  manure  or  forty 
tons  of  clover  per  acre  at  least  requires  a  "  big  think," 
as  my  Swede  man  would  say. 

Of  course,  with  our  western  life  and  cosmopolitan  popu- 
lation, where  "  a  man's  a  man  for  a*  that,"  mother  feels 
that  it  would  not  be  easy  for  us  to  fit  into  your  some- 
what distinctly  stratified  society.  We  would  not  be  "  col- 


264  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ored  "  if  we  could,  and  perhaps  we  could  not  be  aristo- 
cratic if  we  would ;  and  the  opportunity  to  become,  or,  per- 
haps I  should  say,  to  remain,  "  poor  white  trash,"  though 
wide  open,  is  not  very  alluring.  I  realize,  of  course,  that 
there  are  some  whole-souled  people  like  the  Wests  and 
Thorntons,  but  I  also  found  some  of  the  tribe  of  Jones, 
and  I  have  much  doubt  as  to  the  social  standing  of  one 
who  would  feel  obliged  to  demonstrate  that  he  could 
spread  more  manure  in  a  day  than  his  hired  nigger. 

My  Swede  and  I  are  like  brothers ;  we  clean  stables  to- 
gether and  talk  politics,  science  and  agriculture.  In 
fact,  he  is  as  much  interested  as  I  am  in  the  building  up 
of  Poorland  Farm,  and  has  already  contributed  some  very 
practical  suggestions.  I  pay  him  moderate  wages  and 
a  small  percentage  of  the  farm  receipts  after  deducting 
certain  expenses  which  he  can  help  to  keep  as  low  as  pos- 
sible, such  as  for  labor,  repairs  and  purchase  of  feed  and 
new  tools,  but  without  deducting  the  taxes  or  interest  on 
investment  or  the  cost  of  any  permanent  improvements, 
such  as  the  expense  for  limestone,  phosphate,  new  fences 
and  buildings,  and  breeding  stock. 

Referring  again  to  the  invoice  of  the  soil,  I  may  say 
that  the  percentage  of  the  mineral  plant  foods  increases 
with  depth,  the  same  as  in  your  soil,  but  not  to  such  an 
extent,  and  with  one  exception.  The  phosphorus  con- 
tent of  our  surface  soil  is  greater  than  that  of  the  sub- 
surface, but  below  the  subsurface  the  phosphorus  again 
increases.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
prairie  grasses  that  grew  here  for  centuries  extracted 
some  phosphorus  from  the  subsurface  in  which  their  roots, 
fed  to  some  extent,  and  left  it  in  the  organic  residues 
which  accumulated  in  the  surface  soil. 

Aside  from  the  difference  in  organic  matter,  the  physi- 
cal character  of  our  soil  is  distinctly  inferior  to  the  loam 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  265 

soils  about  Blairville  and  Leonardtown.  We  have  a  very 
satisfactory  silt  loam  surface,  but  the  structure  of  our 
subsoil  is  quite  objectionable.  It  is  a  tight  clay,  through 
which  water  passes  very  slowly,  so  slowly  that  the  prac- 
ticability of  using  tile-drainage  is  still  questioned  by  the 
State  University,  although  the  experiments  which  the 
University  soil  investigators  have  already  started  in  sev- 
eral counties  here  in  "  Egypt "  will  ultimately  furnish  us 
positive  knowledge  along  this  line. 

As  for  me,  I  purpose  making  no  experiments  whatever. 
I  do  not  see  how  I  or  any  other  farmer  can  afford  to  put 
our  limited  funds  into  experiments,  especially  when  we 
often  lack  the  facilities  for  taking  the  exact  and  complete 
data  that  are  needed.  It  takes  time  and  labor  and  some 
equipment  to  make  accurate  measurements,  to  weigh 
every  pound  of  fertilizer  applied  and  every  crop  carefully 
harvested  from  measured  and  carefully  seeded  areas,  es- 
pecially selected  because  of  their  uniform  and  representa- 
tive character.  I  think  this  is  public  business  and  it  is 
best  done  by  the  State  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

I  have  heard  narrow  politicians  call  it  class  legislation 
to  appropriate  funds  for  such  agricultural  investigations, 
but  the  fact  is  that  to  investigate  the  soil  and  to  insure 
an  abundant  use  of  limestone,  phosphate  or  other  neces- 
sary materials  required  for  the  improvement  and  perma- 
nent maintenance  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  legislation 
for  all  the  people,  both  now  and  hereafter.  Would  that 
our  Statesmen  would  think  as  much  of  maintaining  this 
most  important  national  resource  as  they  do  of  maintain- 
ing our  national  honor  by  means  of  battleships  and  an 
army  and  navy  supported  at  an  expense  of  three  hundred 
million  dollars  a  year, —  money  enough  for  three  thousand 
immense  plants  for  grinding  limestone  or  phosphate, — 
many  times  the  Nation's  annual  appropriation  for  agricul- 


266  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ture;  and  even  this  is  largely  used  in  getting  new  lands 
ready  for  the  bleeding  process,  instead  of  reviving  those 
that  have  been  practically  bled  to  death. 

As  for  me,  I  shall  simply  take  the  results  which  prove 
profitable  on  the  accurately  conducted  experiment  fields 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  one  of  which  is  located  only 
seven  miles  from  Poorland  Farm,  and  on  the  same  type 
of  soil.  I  shall  try  to  profit  by  that  positive  informa- 
tion and  await  the  accumulation  of  conclusive  data  re- 
lating to  tile-drainage  and  other  possible  improvements 
of  uncertain  practicability  for  "  Egypt." 

Say,  but  our  soil  is  acid!  The  University  soil  survey 
men  say  that  the  acidity  is  positive  in  the  surface,  com- 
parative in  the  subsurface  and  superlative  in  the  subsoil. 
Two  of  them  insisted  that  the  subsoil  has  an  acid  taste. 
The  analysis  of  a  set  of  soil  samples  near  Heart-of-Egypt 
shows  that  to  neutralize  the  acidity  of  the  surface  soil  will 
require  seven  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  of  limestone 
per  acre,  while  three  tons  are  required  for  the  first  twenty 
inches,  and  sixteen  tons  for  the  next  twenty  inches.  The 
tight  clay  stratum  reaches  from  about  twenty  to  thirty- 
six  inches.  Above  this  is  a  flour-like  gray  layer  vary- 
ing in  thickness  from  an  inch  to  ten  inches,  but  below 
the  tight  clay  the  subsoil  seems  to  be  more  porous,  and 
I  am  hoping  that  we  may  lay  tile  just  below  the  tight 
clay  and  then  puncture  that  clay  stratum  with  red  clover 
roots  and  thus  improve  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil. 
I  asked  Mr.  Secor,  a  friend  who  operates  a  coal  mine, — 
and  farms  for  recreation, —  if  he  thought  alfalfa  could 
be  raised  on  this  type  of  soil.  He  replied :  "  That  de- 
pends on  what  kind  of  a  gimlet  it  has  on  its  tap  root." 

Some  of  the  farmers  down  here  tell  me  confidentially 
that  "  hardpan "  has  been  found  on  the  neighbors' 
farms,  but  I  have  not  talked  with  any  one  who  has  any 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  267 

on  his  own  farm.  I  am  very  glad  the  University  has 
settled  the  matter  very  much  to  the  comfort  of  us 
"  Egyptians,"  by  reporting  that  no  true  "  hardpan  "  ex- 
ists in  Illinois,  although  there  are  extensive  areas  under- 
lain with  tight  clay,  "of  whom,  as  it  were,  we  are  which." 

I  am  glad  that  the  nitrogen-fixing  and  nitrifying  bac- 
teria do  business  chiefly  in  the  surface  soil,  because  we  are 
not  prepared  to  correct  the  acidity  to  any  very  great 
depth. 

The  present  plan  is  to  practice  a  six-year  rotation  on 
six  forty-acre  fields,  as  follows: 

First  year — Corn  (and  legume  cover  crop). 
Second  year  —  Part  oats  or  barley,  part  cowpeas  or 
soy  beans. 

Third  year  —  Wheat. 

Fourth  year  —  Clover,  or  clover  and  timothy. 
Fifth  year  —  Wheat,  or  clover  and  timothy. 
Sixth  year  —  Clover,  or  clover  and  timothy. 

This  plan  may  be  a  grain  system  where  wheat  is  grown 
the  fifth  year,  only  clover  seed  being  harvested  the  fourth 
and  sixth  years,  or  it  may  be  changed  to  a  live-stock 
system  by  having  clover  and  timothy  for  pasture  and 
meadow  the  last  three  years,  which  may  be  best  for  a 
time,  perhaps,  if  we  find  it  too  hard  to  care  for  eighty 
acres  of  wheat  on  poorly  drained  land. 

In  somewhat  greater  detail  the  system  may  be  devel- 
oped, we  hope,  about  as  follows: 

First  year:  Corn,  with  mixed  legumes,  seeded  at  the 
time  of  the  last  cultivation,  on  perhaps  one-half  of  the 
field.  These  legumes  may  include  some  cowpeas  and  soy 
beans,  vetch,  alfalfa  and  mammoth  or  sweet  clover,  but 
that  is  not  yet  fully  decided  upon. 

Second  year:  Oats   (part  barley,  perhaps)   on  twenty 


268  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

acres,  cowpeas  on  ten  acres,  and  soy  beans  on  ten  acres. 
The  peas  and  beans  are  to  be  seeded  on  the  twenty  acres 
where  the  cover  crop  of  legumes  is  to  be  plowed  under  as 
late  in  the  spring  as  practicable. 

Third  year:  Wheat  with  alsike  on  twenty  acres  and 
red  clover  on  the  other  twenty,  seeded  in  the  early  spring. 
If  necessary  to  prevent  the  clover  or  weeds  from  seed- 
ing, the  field  will  be  clipped  about  the  last  of  August. 

Fourth  year:  Harvest  the  red  clover  for  hay  and  the 
alsike  for  seed,  and  apply  limestone  after  plowing  early 
for  wheat. 

Fifth  year:  Wheat,  with  alsike  and  red  clover  seeded 
and  clipped  as  before. 

Sixth  year:  Pasture  in  early  summer,  then  clip  if  nec- 
essary to  secure  uniformity,  and  later  harvest  the  red 
clover  for  seed.  Manure  may  be  applied  to  any  part  of 
this  field  from  the  time  of  wheat  harvest  the  previous 
year  until  the  close  of  the  pasture  period.  Then  it  may 
be  applied  to  the  alsike  only  until  the  red  clover  seed  crop 
is  removed,  and  then  again  to  any  part  of  the  field,  which 
may  also  be  used  for  fall  pasture.  To  this  field  the 
threshed  clover  straw  and  all  other  straw  not  needed  for 
feed  and  bedding  will  be  applied.  The  application  of 
raw  phosphate  will  be  made  to  this  field,  and  all  of  this 
material  plowed  under  for  corn. 

The  second  six  years  is  to  be  a  repetition  of  the  first, 
except  that  the  alsike  and  red  clover  will  be  interchanged, 
so  as  to  avoid  the  development  of  clover  sickness  if  possi- 
ble; and  to  keep  the  soil  uniform  we  may  interchange 
the  oats  with  the  peas  and  beans.  We  are  now  planting 
cowpeas,  but  the  sweet  clover  along  the  railroad  is  four 
feet  high.  I  hope  to  utilize  those  two  facts  in  cover  crops 
plowed  under  as  green  manure. 

This  system  provides  the  following  crops  each  year: 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  269 

40  acres  of  corn ; 

20  acres  of  oats; 

10  acres  of  cowpeas  for  hay; 

10  acres  of  soy  beans  for  seed; 

80  acres  of  wheat; 

20  acres  of  red  clover  for  hay; 

20  acres  of  alsike  for  seed; 

20  acres  of  red  clover  for  seed; 

20  acres  of  alsike  for  pasture,  except  in  summer. 

We  also  have  some  permanent  pasture  which  we  may 
use  at  any  time  that  may  seem  best.  If  necessary  we 
may  cut  all  the  clover  for  hay  the  fourth  year,  and  we 
may  pasture  all  summer  the  sixth  year.  We  can  pas- 
ture the  corn  stalks  during  the  fall  and  winter  when  the 
ground  is  in  a  suitable  condition. 

We  plan  to  raise  our  own  horses  and  perhaps  some  to 
sell.  In  addition  we  may  raise  a  few  dairy  cows  for  mar- 
ket, but  will  do  little  dairying  ourselves. 

We  expect  to  sell  wheat  and  some  corn,  and  if  success- 
ful we  shall  sell  some  soy  beans,  alsike  seed,  and  red  clover 
seed. 

How  soon  we  shall  be  able  to  get  this  system  fully  un- 
derway I  shall  not  try  to  predict;  but  we  shall  work 
toward  this  end  unless  we  think  we  have  good  reason  to 
modify  the  plan. 

I  hope  to  make  the  initial  application  of  limestone  five 
tons  per  acre,  but  after  the  first  six  years  this  will  be 
reduced  to  two  or  three  tons.  I  also  plan  to  apply  at 
least  one  ton  per  acre  of  fine-ground  raw  phosphate 
every  six  years  until  the  phosphorus  content  of  the 
plowed  soil  approaches  two  thousand  pounds  per  acre, 
after  which  the  applications  will  probably  be  reduced  to 
about  one-half  ton  per  acre  each  rotation. 


270  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

There  are  three  things  that  mother  and  I  are  fully 
decided  upon: 

First,  that  we  shall  use  ground  limestone  in  sufficient 
amounts  to  make  the  soil  a  suitable  home  for  clover. 

Second,  that  we  shall  apply  fine-ground  rock  phos- 
phate in  such  amounts  as  to  positively  enrich  our  soil  in 
that  very  deficient  element. 

Third,  that  we  shall  reserve  a  three-rod  strip  across 
every  forty-acre  field  as  an  untreated  check  strip  to 
which  neither  limestone  nor  phosphate  shall  ever  be  applied, 
and  that  we  shall  reserve  another  three-rod  strip  to  which 
limestone  is  applied  without  phosphate,  while  the  re- 
maining thirty-seven  acres  are  to  receive  both  limestone 
and  phosphate. 

Thus  we  shall  always  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
whatever  clearly  apparent  effects  are  produced  by  this 
fundamental  treatment,  even  though  we  may  not  be  able 
to  bother  with  harvesting  these  check  strips  separately 
from  the  rest  of  the  field. 

We  have  based  our  decision  regarding  the  use  of  ground 
limestone  very  largely  upon  the  long-continued  work  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  as  to 
the  comparative  effects  of  ground  limestone  and  burned 
lime,  which  is  supported,  to  be  sure,  by  all  comparative 
tests  so  far  as  our  Illinois  soil  investigators  have  been 
able  to  learn. 

The  practicability  and  economy  of  using  the  fine- 
ground  natural  phosphate  has  been  even  more  conclu- 
sively established,  as  you  already  know,  by  the  concord- 
ant results  of  half  a  dozen  state  experiment  stations. 
There  are  only  two  objections  to  the  use  of  the  raw 
phosphate.  One  of  these  is  the  short-sighted  plan  or 
policy  of  the  average  farmer,  and  the  other  is  the  com- 
bined influence  of  about  four  hundred  fertilizer  manu- 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  271 

facturers  who  prefer  to  sell,  quite  naturally,  perhaps,  two 
tons  of  acid  phosphate  for  $30,  or  four  tons  of  so-called 
"  complete  "  fertilizer  for  $70  to  $90,  rather  than  to  see 
the  farmer  buy  direct  from  the  phosphate  mine  one  ton  of 
fine-ground  raw  rock  phosphate  in  which  he  receives  the 
same  amount  of  phosphorus,  at  a  cost  of  $7  to  $9. 

Until  we  can  provide  a  greater  abundance  of  decaying 
organic  matter  we  may  make  some  temporary  use  of  kainit, 
in  case  the  experiments  conducted  by  the  State  show  that 
it  is  profitable  to  do  so. 

In  a  laboratory  experiment  made  at  college  it  was  shown 
that  when  raw  phosphate  was  shaken  with  water  and  then 
filtered,  the  filtrate  contained  practically  no  dissolved 
phosphorus ;  but,  if  a  dilute  solution  of  such  salts  as  exist 
in  kainit  was  used  in  place  of  pure  water,  then  the  filtrate 
would  contain  very  appreciable  amounts  of  phosphorus. 

In  addition  to  this  benefit,  the  kainit  will  furnish  some 
readily  available  potassium,  magnesium,  and  sulfur;  and, 
by  purchasing  kainit  in  carload  lots,  the  potassium  will 
cost  us  less  than  it  would  in  the  form  of  the  more  expensive 
potassium  chlorid  or  potassium  sulfate  purchased  in  ton 
lots.  Of  course,  we  do  not  need  this  in  order  to  add  to  our 
total  stock  of  potassium,  but  more  especially  I  think  to  as- 
sist in  liberating  phosphorus  from  the  raw  phosphate 
which  is  naturally  contained  in  the  soil  and  which  we  shall 
also  apply  to  the  soil,  unless  the  Government  permits  the 
fertilizer  trusts  to  get  such  complete  control  of  our  great 
natural  phosphate  deposits  that  they  make  it  impossible 
for  farmers  to  secure  the  fine-ground  rock  at  a  reasonable 
cost,  which  ought  not,  I  would  say,  to  be  more  than  one 
hundred  per  cent,  net  profit  above  the  expense  of  mining, 
grinding,  and  transportation.  We  may  feel  safe  upon 
the  matter  of  transportation  rates,  for  the  railroads  are 
operated  by  men  of  large  enough  vision  to  see  that  the 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

positive  and  permanent  maintenance  of  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  is  the  key  to  their  own  continued  prosperity,  and  some 
of  them  are  already  beginning  to  understand  that  the  sup- 
ply of  phosphorus  is  the  master  key  to  the  whole  industrial 
structure  of  America ;  for,  with  a  failing  supply  of  phos- 
phorus, neither  agriculture  nor  any  dependent  industry 
can  permanently  prosper  in  this  great  country. 

If  we  retain  the  straw  on  the  farm  and  sell  only  the 
grain,  the  supply  of  potassium  in  the  surface  soil  of  Poor- 
land  Farm  is  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  fifty-bushel 
crop  of  wheat  per  acre  every  year  for  nineteen  hundred  and 
twenty  years,  or  longer  than  the  time  that  has  passed  since 
the  Master  walked  among  men  on  the  earth;  whereas, 
the  total  phosphorus  content  of  the  same  soil  is  sufficient 
for  only  seventy  such  crops,  or  as  long  as  the  full  life  of 
one  man.  Keep  in  mind  that  Poorland  Farm  is  near 
Heart-of-Egypt,  and  that  this  is  the  common  soil  of  our 
"  Egyptian  Empire,"  which  contains  more  cultivable  land 
than  all  New  England,  has  the  climate  of  Virginia,  and  a 
net  work  of  railroads  scarcely  equalled  in  any  other  sec- 
tion of  this  country,  and  in  addition  it  is  more  than  half 
surrounded  by  great  navigable  rivers. 

On  Poorland  Farm  there  are  seven  forty-acre  fields 
which  are  at  least  as  nearly  level  as  they  ought  to  be  to 
permit  good  surface  drainage,  and  there  is  no  need  that 
a  single  hill  of  corn  should  be  omitted  on  any  one  of  these 
seven  fields ;  and  I  am  confident  that  with  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  raw  phosphate  rock  and  magnesian  limestone  and 
a  liberal  use  of  legume  crops  this  land  can  be  made  to  pay 
interest  on  $300  an  acre. 

Why  not?  At  Rothamsted,  England,  they  have  aver- 
aged thirty-seven  and  one-tenth  bushels  of  wheat  per 
acre  during  the  last  twenty  years  in  an  experiment  extend- 
ing over  sixty  years,  and  they  have  done  this  without  a 


PLANNING  FOR  LIFE  273 

forkful  of  manure  or  a  pound  of  purchased  nitrogen. 
Why  not?  The  wheat  alone  from  eighty  acres  of  land, 
if  it  yielded  forty  bushels  per  acre  and  sold  at  $1  a  bushel, 
would  pay  nearly  five  per  cent,  interest  on  $300  an  acre 
for  the  entire  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  used  in  my 
suggested  rotation. 

Aye,  but  there  is  one  other  very  essential  requirement : 
To  wit,  a  world  of  work. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you,  and  especially  about  your 
alfalfa,  I  am. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

PERCY  JOHNSTON. 


CHAPTER    XXXV 

SEALED  LIPS 

NO  one  realized  more  than  Percy  Johnston  that 
toleration  of  life  itself  was  possible  to  him  only 
because  of  the  world  of  work  that  he  found  always 
at  hand  in  connection  with  his  abiding  faith  and  interest 
in  the  upbuilding  of  Poorland  Farm.  He  had  accepted 
Adelaide's  sweet  smile  and  lack  of  apparent  disapproval 
with  confidence  that  he  might  at  least  have  an  opportunity 
to  try  to  win  her  love.  As  he  was  permitted  at  the  part- 
ing to  look  for  more  than  an  instant  into  those  alluring 
eyes,  he  felt  so  sure  that  they  expressed  something  more 
than  friendship  or  gratitude  for  him.  He  had  felt  the 
more  confident  because  he  thought  he  knew  that  she  would 
not  permit  him  to  humiliate  himself  by  asking  and  failing 
to  receive  from  her  father  permission  to  write  to  her,  when 
she  could  easily  in  her  own  womanly  way  have  discouraged 
such  a  thought  at  once.  Had  she  not  insisted  upon  driv- 
ing slowly  back  to  the  turn  in  the  road,  and  did  he  not  feel 
the  absence  of  a  previous  reserve? 

Oh,  misleading  imagination.  The  will  is  truly  the 
father  of  thought  and  faith.  Percy  knew  as  he  parted 
from  Adelaide  that  he  had  left  with  her  the  love  of  heart 
and  mind  of  one  whose  life  had  developed  in  him  the  char- 
acter which  does  nothing  by  halves.  His  love  had  multi- 
plied with  the  distance  as  he  journeyed  westward,  with  a 
great  new  pleasure  which  life  seemed  to  hold  before  him 
and  with  a  pardonable  confidence  in  its  achievement. 

274 


SEALED  LIPS  275 

He  had  written  Mr.  West  a  week  after  his  return  in  a 
way  which  would  not  fail  of  understanding  if  his  hopes 
were  justified.  The  belated  reply  which  reached  him  after 
the  holidays  was  accepted  as  final.  His  pride  was  humili- 
ated and  the  sweetest  dream  of  his  life  abruptly  ended. 
He  felt  the  more  helpless  and  the  more  deeply  wounded 
because  of  Mr.  West's  reference  to  his  special  service  in 
the  protection  he  had  once  rendered  to  Adelaide.  It  con- 
tinually reminded  him  that,  as  the  highest  type  of  gentle- 
man, he  should  do  nothing  that  could  be  construed  as  an 
endeavor  to  take  advantage  of  the  consideration  to  which 
that  act  might  seem  to  entitle  him.  Bound  and  buried  in 
the  deepest  dungeon,  waiting  only  for  the  announcement 
from  his  keeper  of  the  day  of  his  execution  —  this  was  his 
mental  attitude  as  the  months  passed  and  he  began  to  re- 
ceive an  occasional  letter  from  Mr.  West,  in  each  of  which 
he  looked  for  the  news  of  Adelaide's  marriage. 

In  Mrs.  Johnston  a  feeling  of  hatred  had  developed  for 
Adelaide.  She  was  certain  that  she  had  marred  the  hap- 
piness of  her  son.  The  heartlessness  of  a  flirt  who  could 
trifle  with  the  affection  of  one  who  had  a  right  to  assume 
in  her  an  honor  equal  to  his  own  deserved  only  to  be  hated 
with  even  righteous  hatred.  She  saw  the  scrawled  note 
which  she  knew  Percy  had  not  seen,  but  what  did  it  sig- 
nify? An  eccentric  old  lady's  penchant  for  match  mak- 
ing? Perhaps  she  was  even  more  guilty  than  the  girl  in 
attempting  to  lead  Percy  to  see  in  Adelaide  more  than  he 
ought.  She  might  even  take  an  old  flirt's  delight  in  the 
mere  number  of  conquests  made  by  her  granddaughter. 
Or  was  the  scrawled  note  slipped  into  the  envelope  by  a 
prank-playing  fourteen-year-old  brother?  In  any  case 
was  it  wise  that  Percy  should  see  the  note?  She  could 
probably  do  nothing  better  than  to  leave  it  with  the  letter. 
Even  if  the  girl  were  worthy,  Percy  could  never  hope  to 


276  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

win  one  of  her  class,  whose  pride  of  ancestry  is  their  bread 
of  life.  It  might  not  have  been  quite  so,  perhaps,  if  Percy 
had  only  selected  some  more  respected  profession.  Why 
should  not  he  have  become  a  college  professor? 


CHAPTER   XXXVI 

HARD  TIMES 

WHEN  Percy  and  his  mother  reached  Poorland 
Farm  in  March  they  found  a  small  frame  house 
needing  only  shingles,  paint,  and  paper  to  make 
it  a  fairly  comfortable  home,  until  they  should  be  able  to 
add  such  conveniences  as  Percy  knew  could  be  installed 
in  the  country  as  well  as  in  the  city.  From  the  sale  of 
corn  and  some  other  produce  they  were  able  to  add  to  the 
residue  of  $1,840,  which  represented  the  difference  be- 
tween the  cost  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Egypt 
and  the  selling  price  of  forty  acres  in  the  corn  belt.  An 
even  $3,000  was  left  in  the  savings  bank  at  Winterbine. 

"  If  we  can  live,"  said  Percy,  "  just  as  the  other 
*  Egyptians  '  must  live,  and  save  our  $3,000  for  limestone 
and  phosphate,  I  believe  we  shall  win  out.  Through  the 
efforts  of  the  Agricultural  College  and  the  Governor  of 
the  State  the  convicts  in  the  Southern  Illinois  Penitentiary 
have  been  put  to  quarrying  stone,  and  large  crushers  and 
grinders  have  been  installed,  and  the  State  Board  of 
Prison  Industries  is  already  beginning  to  ship  ground 
limestone  direct  to  farmers  at  sixty  cents  a  ton  in  bulk  in 
box  cars.  The  entire  Illinois  Freight  Association  gave 
an  audience  to  the  Warden  of  the  Penitentiary  and  rep- 
resentatives from  the  Agricultural  College,  and  a  uniform 
freight  rate  has  been  granted  of  one-half  cent  per  ton  per 
mile.  This  will  enable  us  to  secure  ground  limestone  de- 
livered at  Heart-of-Egypt  for  $1.22|  per  ton. 

"  Now,  to  apply  five  tons  per  acre  on  two  hundred  and 

277 


278  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

forty  acres  will  require  one  thousand  two  hundred  tons, 
and  that  will  cost  us  $1,570  in  cash,  less  perhaps  the  $70, 
which  we  save  on  roads  and  the  untreated  check  strips 
which  I  want  to.  leave.  To  apply  one  ton  of  phosphate 
per  acre  to  the  same  six  fields  will  cost  about  $1,600.  Of 
course,  I  shall  not  begin  to  apply  phosphate  until  after  I 
have  applied  the  limestone  and  get  some  clover  or  manure 
to  mix  with  the  phosphate  when  I  plow  it  under;  and  I 
hope  with  the  help  of  the  limestone  we  shall  get  some  clover 
and  some  increase  in  the  other  crops.  In  any  case  the 
$3,000  and  interest  we  will  get  for  what  we  can  leave  in 
the  bank  during  the  six  or  eight  years  it  will  take  to  get 
the  rotation  and  treatment  under  way  will  pay  for  the 
initial  cost  of  the  first  application  of  both  limestone  and 
phosphate ;  and  we  shall  hope  that  by  that  time  the  farm 
will  bring  us  something  more  than  a  living." 

The  carload  of  effects  shipped  from  Winterbine  to 
Heart-of-Egypt  included  two  horses,  a  cow,  a  few  breeding 
hogs,  and  some  chickens ;  also  a  supply  of  corn  and  oats 
sufficient  for  the  -summer's  feed  grain. 

After  the  expenses  of  shipping  were  paid,  less  than  $350 
were  deposited  in  the  bank  at  the  County  Seat.  Of  this 
$250  were  used  for  the  purchase  of  another  team.  Hay 
was  bought  from  a  neighbor  and  some  old  hay  that  had 
been  discarded  by  the  balers,  who  had  purchased,  baled, 
and  sold  the  previous  hay  crop  from  Poorland  Farm, 
Percy  gathered  up  and  saved  for  bedding. 

He  plowed  forty  acres  of  the  land  that  had  not  been 
cropped  for  five  years,  and,  after  some  serious  delays  on 
account  of  wet  weather,  planted  the  field  in  corn,  using 
the  Champion  White  Pearl  variety,  because  the  Experi- 
ment Station  had  found  it  to  be  one  of  the  best  varieties 
for  poor  land. 

"  I  wouldn't  plant  that  corn  if  you  would  give  me  the 


HARD  TIMES  279 

seed,"  a  neighbor  had  said  to  him.     "  See  how  big  the  cob  . 
is ;  and  the  tip  is  not  well  filled  out,  and  there  is  too  much 
space  between  the  rows.     I  tell  you  there's  too  much  cob 
in  it  for  me.     I  want  to  raise  corn  and  not  corn  cob." 

'*  It  certainly  is  not  a  good  show  ear,"  said  Percy,  "  but 
what  I  want  most  is  bushels  of  shelled  corn  per  acre.  Per- 
haps these  big  kernels  will  help  to  give  the  young  plant  a 
good  start,  and  perhaps  the  piece  of  cob  extending  from 
the  tip  will  make  room  for  more  kernels  if  the  soil  can  be 
built  up  so  as  to  furnish  the  plant  food  to  make  them. 
The  cob  is  large  but  it  is  covered  with  grains  all  the  way 
around ;  and,  if  those  kernels  of  corn  were  putty,  we  could 
mash  them  down  a  little  and  have  less  space  between  the 
rows,  but  it  would  make  no  more  corn  on  the  ear.  How- 
ever, my  chief  reason  for  planting  the  Champion  White 
Pearl  is  that  this  variety  has  produced  more  shelled  corn 
per  acre  than  any  other  in  the  University  experiments  on 
the  gray  prairie  soil  of  '  Egypt.' " 

There  were  only  sixteen  acres  of  corn  grown  on  the  en- 
tire farm  in  1903  and  this  yielded  thirteen  bushels  per 
acre,  as  Percy  learned  from  the  share  of  the  crop  received 
by  the  previous  landowner. 

In  1904  the  Champion  White  Pearl  yielded  twenty 
bushels  per  acre,  as  nearly  as  could  be  determined  by 
weighing  the  corn  from  a  few  shocks  on  a  small  truck 
scale  Percy  had  brought  from  the  north.  He  numbered 
his  six  forty-acre  fields  from  one  to  six.  Forty  No.  7 
was  occupied  by  twelve  acres  of  apple  orchard,  eight  acres 
of  pasture,  and  twenty  acres  of  old  meadow.  By  getting 
eighty  rods  of  fencing  it  was  possible  to  include  twenty- 
eight  acres  in  the  pasture,  although  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two  rods  of  fencing  had  been  required  to  surround 
the  eight-acre  pasture.  The  remainder  of  the  farm  was 
in  patches,  including  about  fifteen  acres  on  one  corner 


280  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

crossed  by  a  little  valley  and  covered  with  trees,  a  tract 
which  Percy  and  his  mother  treasured  above  any  of  the 
forty-acre  fields.  While  the  week  was  always  filled  with 
work,  there  were  many  hours  of  real  pleasure  found  in  the 
wood's  pasture  on  the  Sunday  afternoons. 

Forty  No.  1  was  left  to  "  lie  out,"  and  No.  2  raised 
only  twelve  acres  of  cowpeas.  No.  3  was  plowed  during 
the  summer  and  seeded  to  timothy  in  the  early  fall.  No. 
4  was  in  corn  and  Nos.  5  and  6  were  left  in  meadow,  two 
patches  of  nine  and  sixteen  acres,  previously  in  cowpeas 
and  corn,  having  been  seeded  to  timothy  in  order,  as  Percy 
said,  to  "  square  out "  the  forty-acre  fields.  Some  fifty 
acres  of  land  were  cut  over  for  about  sixteen  tons  of  hay. 
The  corn  was  all  put  in  shock,  and  the  fodder  as  well  as 
the  grain  used  for  feed,  the  refuse  from  the  fodder  and 
poor  hay  serving  as  bedding.  About  three  tons  of  cow- 
pea  hay  of  excellent  quality  were  secured  from  the  twelve 
acres,  and  fifty  barrels  of  apples  were  put  in  storage. 

Another  cow  and  eight  calves  were  bought,  and  during 
the  winter,  some  butter,  two  small  bunches  of  the  last 
spring's  pigs,  and  the  apple  crop  were  sold.  A  few  eggs 
had  been  sold  almost  every  week  since  the  previous  March. 

In  1905,  No.  1  was  rented  for  corn  on  shares  and  pro- 
duced about  six  hundred  bushels,  of  which  Percy  received 
one-third.  No.  £  yielded  four  hundred  and  eighty-four 
bushels  of  oats.  No.  3  produced  fourteen  tons  of  poor 
hay.  No.  4  was  "  rested "  and  prepared  for  wheat, 
ground  limestone  having  been  applied.  No.  5  was  fall- 
plowed  from  old  meadow  and  well  prepared  and  planted  to 
corn  in  good  time ;  but,  after  the  second  cultivation,  heavy 
rains  set  in  and  continued  until  the  corn  was  seriously 
damaged  on  the  flat  areas  of  the  field,  the  more  so  as  he 
had  not  fully  understood  the  importance  of  keeping  fur- 
rows open  with  outlets  at  the  head-lands  through  which 


HARD  TIMES 

the  excess  surface  water  could  pass  off  quickly  under  such 
weather  conditions.  Patches  of  the  field  aggregating  at 
least  five  acres  were  so  poorly  surface  drained  that  the 
corn  was  "  drowned  out,"  and  fifteen  acres  more  were  so 
wet  as  to  greatly  injure  the  crop.  However,  on  the  better 
drained  parts  of  the  field  where  the  corn  was  given  further 
cultivation  the  yield  was  good  and  about  1,000  bushels  of 
sound  corn  were  gathered  from  the  forty  acres. 

A  mixture  of  timothy,  redtop  and  weeds  was  cut  for  hay 
on  No.  6,  the  yield  being  better  than  half  a  ton  per  acre. 

The  apples  were  a  fair  crop,  and  the  total  sales  from 
that  crop  amounted  to  $750,  but  about  half  of  this  had 
been  expended  for  trimming  and  spraying  the  trees,  a 
spraying  outfit,  barrels,  picking,  packing,  freight  and  cold 
storage.  A  good  bunch  of  hogs  was  sold. 

Another  year  passed.  Oats  were  grown  on  No.  1  and 
on  part  of  No.  2,  yielding  eleven  bushels  per  acre. 

No.  3  yielded  one-third  of  a  ton  of  hay  per  acre. 

Wheat  was  grown  on  No.  4,  and  clover,  the  first  the 
land  had  known  in  many  years,  if  ever,  was  seeded  in  the 
spring, —  twenty  acres  of  red  clover  and  twenty  of  alsike. 

The  fifty-four  acres  of  wheat,  including  fourteen  acres 
on  No.  2,  yielded  seven  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre. 
Soy  beans  were  planted  on  No.  5,  but  wet  weather  seriously 
interfered  and  only  part  of  the  field  was  cut  for  hay. 
Limestone  was  applied,  but  heavy  continued  rains  pre- 
vented the  seeding  of  wheat. 

No.  6  produced  about  twenty-seven  bushels  per  acre  of 
corn. 

Two  lots  of  hogs  were  sold  for  about  $800,  and  some 
young  steers  increased  the  receipts  by  nearly  $100. 

Mrs.  Johnston  continued  to  buy  the  groceries  with  eggs 
and  butter ;  but  it  was  necessary  to  buy  some  hay,  and  the 
labor  bill  was  heavy. 


282  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

No.  5  joined  the  twenty-eight-acre  pasture  and  on  two 
other  sides  it  joined  neighbors'  farms  where  line  fences 
were  up,  and  on  the  other  side  lay  No.  4«. 

Percy  was  trying  to  get  ready  to  pasture  the  clover  on 
No.  4,  and  a  mile  of  new  fencing  was  required.  The  ma- 
terials were  bought  and  the  fence  built,  and  when  finished 
it  also  completed  the  fencing  required  to  enclose  No.  5. 
The  twenty-eight-acre  pasture  was  inadequate  for  sixteen 
head  of  cattle  and  the  young  stock  was  kept  in  a  hired 
pasture.  Unless  he  could  produce  more  feed,  Percy  saw 
that  the  farm  would  soon  be  overstocked,  for  some  colts 
were  growing  and  eight  cows  were  now  giving  milk. 

His  hope  was  in  the  clover,  but  as  the  fall  came  on  the 
red  clover  was  found  to  have  failed  almost  completely,  and 
the  alsike  was  one-half  a  stand.  As  the  red  clover  had 
been  seeded  on  the  unlimed  strip  there  was  no  way  of  know- 
ing whether  the  limestone  had  even  benefited  the  alsike. 
The  neighbors  had  "  seen  just  as  good  clover  without  put- 
ting on  any  of  that  stuff." 

There  were  no  apples,  but  the  spraying  had  cost  as 
much  as  ever,  and  some  team  work  had  been  hired. 

Three  years  of  the  hardest  work;  limestone  on  two 
forties,  but  only  twenty  acres  of  poor  clover  on  one  and 
no  wheat  seeded  on  the  other.  The  neighbors  "  knew  the 
clover  would  winter  kill."  The  bills  for  pasturing 
amounted  to  as  much  as  the  butter  had  brought ;  for  the 
twenty-eight-acre  pasture  had  been  very  poor.  The  feed 
for  the  cows  for  winter  consisted  of  corn  fodder,  straw 
and  poor  hay,  and  not  enough  of  that. 

They  had  to  do  it  —  draw  $150  from  the  Winterbine 
reserve,  besides  what  had  been  used  for  limestone.  Part 
of  it  must  go  for  clover  seed,  for  clover  must  be  seeded  be- 
fore it  could  be  grown.  The  small  barn  must  also  be  en- 
larged, but  with  the  least  possible  expense. 

It  was  February.     Wet  snow,  water,  and  almost  bot- 


Si. 


1 


HARD  TIMES  283 

tomless  mud  covered  the  earth.  With  four  horses  on  the 
wagon,  Percy  had  worked  nearly  all  day  bringing  in  two 
"  Jags  "  of  poor  hay  from  the  stack  in  the  field.  It  was 
all  the  little  mow  would  hold. 

He  had  finished  the  chores  late  and  came  in  with  the 
milk. 

"  Put  on  some  dry  clothes  and  your  new  shoes,"  said 
his  mother,  "  while  I  strain  the  milk  and  take  up  the  sup- 
per. There  is  a  letter  on  the  table.  I  hardly  see  how  the 
mail  man  gets  along  through  these  roads.  They  must  be 
worse  than  George  Rogers  Clark  found  on  his  trip  from 
Kaskaskia  to  Vincennes.  They  say  his  route  passed  across 
only  a  few  miles  from  the  present  site  of  Heart-of-Egypt. 
I  suppose  the  letter  is  from  Mr.  West." 

Percy  finished  washing  his  hands,  and  opened  the  letter. 
Two  cards  fell  to  the  table  as  he  drew  the  letter  from  the 
envelope. 

He  picked  up  one  of  the  cards,  and  read  it  aloud  to  his 
mother : 

Jiii  AND  ffim.  JIAHE  %>3mmwm$%  IAUSE®® 

At  home  after  March  1,  1907 
1422  College  Avenue 
Raleigh,  N.   C. 

'*  With  Grandma's  Compliments"  was  penciled  across 
the  top  of  the  card.  Percy  glanced  at  the  other  card  and 
read  the  plain  lines : 

Announce  the  marriage  of  their  daughter 

Did  his  eyes  blurr?  He  laid  the  one  card  over  the  other, 
scanned  Mr.  West's  letter  hurriedly,  replaced  it  with  the 
cards  in  the  envelope,  and  laid  the  letter  at  his  mother's 
plate. 

Percy  replaced  his  rubber  boots  with  shoes,  and  his  wet, 
heavy  coat  with  a  dry  one. 


284-  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  You  remember  the  letter  I  had  from  the  College  ?  " 
he  asked,  as  he  took  his  seat  at  the  table. 

"  Yes,  I  remember,"  she  replied,  "  but  the  Institute  was 
to  begin  to-day." 

"  I  know,"  said  Percy,  "  but  Hoard  and  Terry  both 
speak  to-morrow, —  Terry  in  the  morning  and  the  Gov- 
ernor in  the  afternoon,  and  they  are  the  men  the  Professor 
especially  wanted  me  to  hear,  if  I  could.  I  think  I'll 
'phone  to  Bronson's  and  ask  Roscoe  to  come  over  and  do 
the  chores  to-morrow  noon.  I  can  get  back  by  nine  to- 
morrow night." 

"  But,  Dear,  how  in  the  world  can  you  get  to  Olney  to 
hear  Mr.  Terry  speak  to-morrow  morning?" 

"  There  is  a  train  east  about  eight  o'clock,"  he  replied. 
"  Of  course  the  roads  are  too  awful  to  think  of  driving  to 
the  station,  especially  since  the  mares  ought  not  to  be  used 
much.  I  put  four  on  the  wagon  to-day  and  tried  to  be  as 
careful  as  possible  but  it  does  not  seem  right  to  use  them. 
I  can  manage  all  right.  I  will  get  up  a  little  early  in  the 
morning  and  get  things  in  shape  so  I  can  leave  here  by 
daylight  and  I  am  sure  I  can  make  the  B.  &  O.  station  by 
eight  o'clock  easily.  I  will  wear  my  rubber  boots  and 
carry  my  shoes  in  a  bundle.  I  can  change  at  the  depot 
and  put  my  boots  on  again  when  I  get  back  there  at  seven 
at  night.  If  it  clears  up,  I  will  have  the  moon  to  help 
coming  home." 

"  But,  Percy,  you  do  not  mean  to  walk  five  miles  and 
back  through  all  this  mud  and  water?  " 

"  I  wish  you  would  not  worry,  Mother.  There  is  grass 
along  the  sides  most  of  the  way,  and  I  am  used  to  the  mud 
and  water.  I  will  spy  out  the  best  track  as  I  go  in  the 
morning  and  just  follow  my  own  trail  coming  back." 

"  Then  it  is  time  we  were  asleep,"  replied  the  mother. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

HARDER  TIMES 

f  I  ^HE   State   Superintendent  of  Farmers'   Institutes 
called  the  meeting  to  order  soon  after  Percy  en- 
tered  the  Opera  House  at  Olney  about  ten  o'clock 
the  next  morning. 

"  Divine  blessing  will  be  invoiced  by  Doctor  T.  E.  Sis- 
son,  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Olney : " 

"Oh,  Thou,  whose  presence  bright  all  space  doth 
occupy  and  all  motion  guide,  all  life  impart, 
we  come  this  morning  in  the  capacity  of  this 
Farmers'  Institute  to  thank  thee  for  Thy  mercies  and 
for  Thy  blessings,  and  to  invoke  Thy  presence  and 
Thy  continued  favor.  As  Thou  with  Thy  presence 
hast  surrounded  all  forms  of  creation  and  all  stages 
of  being  with  the  providences  of  welfare  and  develop- 
ment and  grace,  so  we  pray,  our  Father,  for  guid- 
ance through  the  sessions  of  this  institute,  for  the 
providences  of  Thy  love  and  Thy  wisdom  divine  as  it 
reveals  itself  in  the  open  field,  in  the  orchard,  in  the 
garden,  bringing  forth  those  things  which  replenish 
the  earth  with  food  and  fill  the  mouths  of  our  hungry 
ones  with  bread. 

"  We  thank  Thee  for  this  larger  knowledge  which 
has  come  to  the  minds  of  men,  because  they  have  been 
learning  to  study  Thy  works  and  to  walk  closer  to 
Thee.  Wilt  Thou,  Heavenly  Father,  continue  to  en- 
lighten this  body  of  men  and  women  that  are  repre- 
sented in  this  great  field  of  the  world's  busy  hive  so 

285 


286  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

that  the  starving  millions  of  the  world,  now  in  our 
cities  rioting  for  bread  and  in  the  vast  nations  where 
they  are  crying  for  food,  may  be  fed.  We  pray  Thee, 
reveal  such  improvement  of  knowledge  to  these  who 
are  willing  to  get  close  to  Thee  to  learn  Thy  secrets 
and  know  Thy  wisdom,  as  that  unto  all  shall  be  given 
plenty,  for  replenishing  our  physical  needs.  And 
help  us  to  know,  our  Father,  as  we  learn  Thy  will  and 
seek  to  do  Thy  will  and  live  in  the  higher  courts  of 
knowledge  and  wider  circles  of  thought,  so  shall  God 
reveal  himself  unto  us. 

"  Our  Father,  we  thank  Thee  for  all  the  develop- 
ments and  great  sources  of  utility  that  come  through 
the  means  of  this  institute  in  the  development  of  the 
resources  of  this  country,  this  great  State  and  adjoin- 
ing states  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  fa- 
vored nation.  We  pray,  Heavenly  Father,  while 
studying  all  these  replenishments  and  seeking  to  de- 
fend them  from  the  inroads  of  evil,  of  the  rust  and  the 
mildew  and  the  worm, —  we  pray  also  for  the  beauti- 
ful homes,  for  the  souls  of  the  children  given  to  our 
homes,  that  we  may  study  their  mental  and  spiritual 
being  in  such  a  way  as  shall  keep  all  harm  and  evil 
and  wrong  from  this  life  of  ours,  and  so  to  work  in 
the  field  of  Thy  providences,  revealed  in  hand  and 
mind  and  heart  and  relationships,  of  school  and 
church  and  state  and  farm,  and  all  the  activities  of 
this  life's  great  work,  as  that  good  shall  be  our  in- 
heritance. 

"  We  pray  Thee,  Heavenly  Father,  to  be  with  the 
officers  of  this  institute.  Give  Thy  strength,  Thy 
presence,  and  Thy  discernment  to  these  who  partici- 
pate in  the  work,  the  membership  and  onlookers,  and 
those  who  come  to  learn.  We  pray  Thee,  give  us  the 


HARDER  TIMES  287 

revelation  of  Thy  wisdom  to  replenish  and  build  up 
every  human  family,  and  to  Thee  all  praise  shall  be 
given  to-day  for  this  blessing  and  for  Thy  continued 
favor;  and  not  only  to-day  but  to-morrow  and  the 
day  after  and  through  all  eternity  the  praise  shall 
be  Thine,  in  the  name  of  Him  who  came  into  this 
world  to  give  us  the  life  of  the  knowledge  of  God. 
Amen." 

"  It  may  be,"  said  the  Chairman,  "  that  a  State  Farm- 
ers' Institute  sometimes  exercises  a  little  arbitrary  power 
in  selecting  subjects  we  want  to  speak  of.  I  think  county 
institutes  might  adopt  the  same  plan  to  advantage,  and 
assign  the  topic  they  wish  discussed. 

"  The  topic  assigned  our  speaker  to-day  is  *  What  I  did 
and  how  I  did  it.'  It  may  sound  egotistical,  but  I  want  to 
relieve  the  speaker  of  that  imputation,  because  the  subject 
was  selected  by  the  Institute. 

"  Allow  me  to  present  Mr.  Terry,  who  needs  no  intro- 
duction to  an  audience  of  American  farmers :  " 

Mr.  Terry  began  to  speak: 

"  Thirty-six  years  ago  last  fall,"  he  said,  "  my  wife  and 
I  bought  and  moved  onto  the  farm  where  we  now  reside. 
We  went  on  there  in  debt  $3,700,  on  which  we  had  to  pay 
seven  per  cent,  interest.  I  had  one  horse,  an  old  one  (and 
it  had  the  heaves),  a  one-horse  harness,  and  a  one-horse 
wagon,  three  tillage  implements,  and  nine  cows  that  were 
paid  for ;  and  a  wife  and  two  babies,  but  no  money.  Now 
that  was  the  condition  in  which  we  started  on  this  farm, 
thirty-six  years  ago,  in  debt  heavily,  and  no  money ;  but 
that  is  not  the  worst  of  it.  If  it  had  been  as  good  soil  as 
you  have  in  some  parts  of  this  State,  we  should  have  been 
all  right.  How  about  the  soil?  For  sixty  years  farmers 
had  been  running  it  down  until  it  could  scarcely  produce 


288  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

anything.  We  had  a  tenant  on  the  place  one  year,  be- 
fore we  could  arrange  to  move  on,  after  we  got  it.  They 
got  eight  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  and  he  said  to  me, 
'  That  is  a  pretty  good  yield,  don't  you  think,  for  this  old 
farm  ?  '  Oh,  friends,  I  didn't  think  so ; —  never  ought  to 
have  bought  this  farm; — didn't  know  any  better, —  born 
and  brought  up  in  town,  my  father  a  minister,  and  I 
thought  a  farm  was  a  farm.  But  I  learned  some  things 
after  awhile.  That  tenant  mowed  over  probably  forty 
acres  of  land.  (We  originally  bought  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five.)  He  put  the  hay  in  the  barn.  It  measured 
twelve  tons.  Half  of  that  was  weeds.  Most  of  the  hay  he 
cut  down  in  a  swale.  There  wasn't  anything  worth  con- 
sidering on  the  upland.  That  was  the  condition  of  the 
land. 

"  How  about  the  buildings  ?  The  house  had  been  used 
about  sixty  years,  an  old  story-and-a-half  house.  Dilapi- 
dated, oh,  my !  Every  time  the  rain  came,  we  had  to  take 
every  pan  upstairs  and  set  it  to  catch  the  water.  We  did 
not  have  any  money  to  put  on  more  shingles.  It  was  out 
of  the  question,  we  couldn't  do  it.  How  about  the  door- 
yard?  It  was  a  cow  yard.  They  used  it  for  a  milking 
yard,  for  years  and  years.  You  can  imagine  how  it 
looked.  The  barn  was  in  such  condition  that  cattle  were 
just  as  well  off  out-doors  as  in.  The  roof  leaked  terribly. 
The  tenants  had  burned  up  the  doors  and  any  boards  they 
could  take  off  easily.  They  were  too  lazy  to  take  off  any 
that  came  off  hard.  They  burned  all  the  fences  in  reach. 

"  Now,  friends,  that  was  the  farm  we  moved  onto  and  the 
condition  it  was  in.  Some  of  you  will  know  we  saw  some 
pretty  hard  times  for  a  while.  Time  and  again  I  was 
obliged  to  take  my  team,  after  we  got  two  horses  (the  sec- 
ond I  borrowed  of  a  relative,  it  was  the  only  way  I  could 
get  one),  and  go  to  town  to  do  some  little  job  hauling  to 


HARDER  TIMES  289 

get  some  money  to  get  something  to  eat.  That  is  the  way 
we  started  farming.  I  remember,  after  three  or  four 
years,  meeting  Dr.  W.  I.  Chamberlain.  Some  of  you 
know  him.  Be  said : '  Terry,  if  you  should  get  a  new  hat, 
there  wouldn't  anybody  know  you.  Your  clothes  wear  like 
the  children  of  Israel's.'  They  had  to  wear.  No  one 
knew  how  hard  up  we  were.  It  was  not  best  to  let  them 
know.  That  money  was  borrowed  of  a  friend  in  Detroit, 
secured  on  a  life  insurance  policy.  We  did  not  let  any- 
body know  how  hard  up  we  really  were.  My  wife  rode  to 
town  (to  church  when  she  went)  in  the  same  wagon  we 
hauled  out  manure  in,  for  a  time.  Time  and  again  she 
had  been  to  town  when  she  said  she  could  not  do  without 
something  any  longer, —  and  came  back  without  it.  Credit 
was  good.  We  could  have  bought  it.  We  didn't  dare  to. 
"  Now,  friends,  a  dozen  years  from  the  time  we  started 
on  that  farm,  under  these  circumstances,  we  were  getting 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  a»d  fifty  bush- 
els of  merchantable  potatoes  per  acre  right  along  —  not 
a  single  year,  but  on  the  average  —  varying,  of  course, 
somewhat  with  the  season.  We  were  getting  from  four  to 
five  tons  of  clover  hay  in  a  season,  from  two  cuttings,  of 
course,  per  acre.  We  were  getting  from  thirty-three  to 
thirty-eight  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  not  one  year,  but 
for  five  years  we  averaged  thirty-five  bushels  per  acre,  and 
right  on  that  same  farm.  No  fertility  had  been  brought 
on  to  it,  practically,  from  the  outside.  A  man  without 
any  money,  in  debt  for  the  land  $3,700,  was  able  to  do 
this.  Now,  how  did  he  do  it?  That  is  the  question  I 
have  been  asked  to  talk  upon.  I  have  told  you  briefly 
something  like  what  we  have  accomplished.  I  might  say, 
further,  the  old  house  I  told  you  that  we  lived  in  for  four- 
teen years  while  we  were  building  up  the  fertility  of  this 
soil,  we  sold  for  $10,  after  we  got  through  with  it.  It  is 


290  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

now  a  horse  barn  on  the  farm  of  our  next  neighbor  and  has 
been  covered  over. 

"  Eleven  years  from  the  time  we  started  we  paid  the  last 
$500  of  our  debt,  all  dug  out  of  that  farm,  not  $25  from 
any  other  source.  Thirteen  years  from  the  time  we 
started,  we  carried  off  the  first  prize  of  $50  offered  by  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture  of  Ohio,  for  the  best  detailed 
report  of  the  best  and  most  profitably  managed  small  farm 
in  the  state, —  only  thirteen  years  from  the  time  we  started 
on  that  run-down  land,  and  no  fertility  brought  from  the 
outside;  without  any  money;  and  meanwhile  we  had  to 
live. 

"  Now,  I  had  arranged  with  the  tenant  the  first  year, 
before  we  went  on  there,  to  seed  down  a  certain  field.  It 
had  been  under  the  plow  for  some  time.  I  wanted  it 
seeded  so  I  could  have  some  land  to  mow  and  he  seeded 
half  of  it.  It  was  only  a  little  lot,  about  five  acres.  He 
seeded  half  with  timothy  and  left  the  other  half.  That 
was  his  way  of  doing  things,  anyway.  When  we  moved 
onto  the  farm  later  I  naturally  wanted  to  finish  that  seed- 
ing and  get  that  field  in  some  sort  of  shape  for  mowing. 
I  went  to  my  next  neighbor,  who  lives  there  yet,  and  asked 
him  what  I  had  better  use.  I  didn't  know  anything, 
practically,  about  farming,  and  he  advised  me  to  try  some 
clover  seed.  He  said :  '  So  far  as  I  know,  none  was  ever 
sown  on  that  farm.  They  have  sowed  timothy  everlast- 
ingly, everybody,  because  it  is  cheap.  I  knew  timothy 
wouldn't  grow  there  to  amount  to  anything.  If  I  were 
in  your  place  I  would  try  some  clover.' 

"  I  got  the  land  prepared  and  sowed  that  clover  alone, 
so  as  to  give  it  a  chance.  I  did  have  sense  enough  to  mow 
off  the  weeds  when  they  got  six  or  eight  or  ten  inches  high, 
perhaps,  so  that  the  clover  could  have  a  little  better 
chance  to  grow.  It  happened  to  be  a  very  wet  season. 


HARDER  TIMES  291 

I  remember  that  distinctly.  This  was  a  lot  near  to  the 
barn.  I  suppose  what  little  manure  they  had  hauled 
out  had  been  mostly  put  on  this  land.  With  these 
favoring  conditions  the  result  was  fairly  good.  Of 
course  not  half  what  we  got  later,  but  we  got 
quite  a  little  clover  and  when  I  came  to  mow  it,  and  to 
mow  that  timothy  at  the  other  end,  I  could  see  I  could 
draw  the  rake  two  or  three  times  as  far  in  the  timothy  as 
in  the  clover.  There  was  more  clover  on  an  acre.  A  load 
of  timothy  would  go  in  and  a  load  of  clover.  When  I  fed 
it  to  the  cows  in  winter  I  noticed  when  feeding  clover  for  a 
number  of  days  they  gave  more  milk.  I  didn't  know  why. 
I  don't  know  as  anybody  knew  why  then.  There  wasn't 
an  experiment  station  in  the  land.  We  were  following  our 
own  notions.  But  the  cows  gave  more  milk;  I  could  see 
that  plainly. 

"  A  little  later  I  had  an  experiment  forced  on  me  by  ac- 
cident. I  tell  you  just  how  it  came  about.  It  resulted 
in  putting  a  good  many  thousands  in  our  pockets  and  I 
hope  millions  in  the  pockets  of  the  farmers  of  America. 
Later  I  wanted  to  plant  corn  on  this  field,  and,  as  I 
wanted  to  grow  just  as  good  corn  as  I  could,  I  got  out 
what  manure  we  saved  and  put  it  on  the  land  prepared  for 
plowing.  I  knew  there  wouldn't  be  more  than  half 
enough  to  go  over  the  field.  I  said  to  myself,  if  th«re 
was  any  good  corn,  I  would  like  it  next  to  the  road  where 
people  would  see  it.  Wouldn't  any  of  you  do  it?  I 
didn't  have  a  dollar  to  hire  any  help.  I  paid  one  dollar 
that  year  for  help,  and  it  was  awful  hard  to  get  that  dol- 
lar. I  began  spreading  that  manure  next  to  the  road. 
The  back  half  of  the  field  was  nearly  out  of  sight.  When 
I  got  half  way  back  there  wasn't  any  manure  left  and 
the  back  half  didn't  get  any.  Now  it  so  happened  that 
the  timothy  was  on  the  front  end  of  the  field,  and  it  got 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

the  manure.  The  clover  on  the  back  half  didn't  get  any. 
It  came  about  in  the  simple  way  I  told  you  of.  Naturally 
I  didn't  expect  much  corn  where  I  hadn't  put  any  ma- 
nure, but  what  was  my  surprise  to  find  it  was  just  about 
as  good  on  that  clover  end  of  the  field  without  any  dress- 
ing as  on  the  timothy  end  with  what  I  had  been  able  to 
put  on. 

"  It  is  only  right  I  should  say  there  wasn't  much 
of  the  manure.  It  was  poor  in  quality,  because  we 
couldn't  get  grain  for  the  cows  when  we  couldn't  get 
enough  for  ourselves  to  eat.  There  wasn't  much  manure 
and  it  was  pretty  poor,  but  such  as  it  was  that  was  the 
result.  More  hay  to  the  acre,  better  hay,  increased  fer- 
tility, some  way,  by  growing  this  clover! 

"  Now  let  us  go  back  a  little.  I  think  it  was  the  sec- 
ond spring  after  we  moved  onto  the  place  that  I  hap- 
pened to  be  crossing  the  farm  of  my  next  neighbor,  Mr. 
Holcombe,  now  dead.  I  found  him  plowing.  He  had 
been  around  a  piece  of  land,  I  should  judge  five  acres, 
half  a  dozen  times.  He  was  sitting  on  the  plow,  tired 
out, —  too  old  to  work  anyway.  He  said :  *I  wish  you 
would  take  this  land  and  put  in  some  crop  on  the  shares; 
I  want  to  get  rid  of  the  work;  I  can't  do  it,  and  would 
like  to  let  you  have  it  in  some  way.  All  I  want  is  that 
it  should  be  left  so  I  can  seed  it  down  in  the  fall  again.' 

"  It  was  an  old  piece  of  sod  he  had  mowed  in  the  old 
eastern  way  until  it  wouldn't  grow  anything  any  longer. 
I  don't  suppose  he  got  a  quarter  of  a  ton  of  hay  to  the 
acre.  He  wanted  it  plowed  so  he  could  re-seed  it.  I 
didn't  know  the  value  of  the  land,  but  foolishly,  perhaps, 
as  most  people  thought,  offered  him  five  dollars  an  acre 
for  the  use  of  it.  I  hadn't  enough  to  do  at  home.  I 
didn't  have  my  land  in  shape  so  I  could  do  much.  We 
were  working  along  as  fast  as  we  could.  I  thought  I 


HARDER  TIMES  293 

could  do  well  if  I  had  this  job,  and  could,  perhaps,  make 
something  off  it.  He  agreed  to  it. 

"  I  went  home  and  got  my  team  and  plow  and  finished 
the  plowing.  I  remember  making  those  furrows  narrow 
and  turning  the  ground  well,  a  little  deeper  than  it  had 
been  plowed  before.  I  didn't  realize  what  I  was  doing, 
then.  I  simply  had  been  brought  up  to  do  my  work  well. 
I  thought  I  was  doing  a  good  job,  that  was  all.  When 
I  was  through  plowing  I  got  my  harrow,  a  spike-tooth, 
and  harrowed  the  ground.  I  had  a  roller.  They  were 
manufactured  in  our  town.  The  firm  *  busted  '  and  I  had 
a  chance  to  buy  one  very  cheap.  I  had  a  roller,  harrow 
and  plow.  That  was  all  the  tillage  implements.  The 
harrow  had  moved  the  lumps  around  a  little.  I  ran  the 
roller  over  the  lumps;  then  harrowed,  rolled  and  har- 
rowed. When  the  harrow  would  not  take  hold,  I  put  a 
plank  across  and  rode  on  it. 

"  I  worked  that  land  alternately  until  I  had  the  surface 
as  fine  and  nice  as  I  could  make  it,  two  or  three  inches  deep. 
The  harrow  would  not  take  hold  any  longer  and  I  had  to 
quit.  By  and  by  a  rain  came.  I  didn't  know  anything 
about  how  to  till  land, —  this  spring  fallow  business  — 
but  I  happened  to  hit  it  right.  After  it  rained,  I  said 
that  harrow  will  take  hold  better  now.  I  loaded  the  har- 
row and  got  on  it,  and  tore  that  ground  up  three  or  four 
inches  deep. 

"  The  harrow  teeth  were  sharp.  I  harrowed  and  rolled 
it,  and  my  neighbor  said :  '  Terry,  you  are  ruining  that 
land,  it  will  never  grow  anything  any  more,  it  will  all 
blow  away.'  I  reminded  him  of  his  bargain;  I  should 
raise  what  I  pleased  and  take  the  crop  home.  Every  lit- 
tle while,  I  can't  remember  how  often,  I  would  go  over 
and  harrow  and  roll  that  land.  I  probably  plowed  it  the 
first  week  in  April.  For  two  months  that  was  a  sort  of 


294  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

savings  bank  for  my  work.  I  would  run  over  and  work 
that  land  occasionally,  until,  about  the  first  week  in  June, 
I  had  it  prepared  just  as  mellow  and  fine  and  nice  as  it 
was  possible  to  make  it.  It  was  nice  enough  for  flower 
seeds. 

"  I  builded  better  then  than  I  knew.  I  had  no  idea 
what  the  result  was  going  to  be.  When  it  was  all  ready 
I  sowed  Hungarian  grass  seed.  I  wish  you  could  have 
seen  the  crop.  It  grew  four  and  a  half  or  five  feet  high, 
as  thick  as  it  could  stand  on  the  land.  I  believe  if  I  had 
thrown  my  straw  hat  it  would  have  staid  on  the  top.  It 
was  enormous  for  that  land.  I  had  four  big  loads  to  the 
acre.  You  know  what  you  can  put  on  a  load  of  Hun- 
garian. When  I  went  by  the  owner's  house  with  those 
loads  and  took  them  to  our  barn  he  was  out  there  and 
he  looked  awfully  sour.  That  man,  to  my  knowledge, 
had  never  grown  half  as  much  to  the  acre  since  I  had 
known  of  his  being  on  the  land,  probably  never  more 
than  one-third  as  much.  Old  run-out  timothy  sod;  no 
manure,  no  fertilizer,  nothing  but  the  work, —  this  spring 
fallowing.  I  enjoyed  the  matter  more,  because  he  had 
told  some  of  the  neighbors  he  had  got  the  start  of  that 
town  fellow;  I  would  never  see  five  dollars  an  acre  back, 
out  of  the  land.  That  was  his  opinion  of  what  I  could 
raise. 

"Hay  was  hay  that  fall  after  a  dry  season.  We  live 
in  a  dairy  section.  The  cows  were  there  and  had  to  be 
fed.  I  got  $18  a  ton  for  that  hay  in  our  barn,  some- 
thing like  $70  per  acre.  I  think  the  laugh  was  on  the 
other  side.  That  was  my  first  awakening  along  this  line 
of  tillage.  Didn't  know  how  it  came  about,  didn't  know 
anything  about  the  fertility  locked  up  in  the  soil,  just 
the  plain  facts.  I  did  so  and  so,  and  got  such  and  such 
results. 


HARDER  TIMES  295 

"  The  next  year  Charlie  Harlow,  still  living  there,  said : 
*  I  wish  you  would  put  in  some  Hungarian  for  me  this 
spring.'  I  said :  '  What  part  of  the  crop  ?  —  I  should 
want  two-thirds.'  He  said  he  had  an  offer  for  half.  I 
said :  '  Then  let  him  have  it.'  He  replied :  *  One-third  of 
what  you  will  raise  is  more  than  half  of  what  he  will  raise.' 
He  saw  what  I  did  on  his  brother-in-law's  farm. 

"  The  following  year  I  had  a  piece  of  land  ready  to 
grow  corn;  I  had  cleared  out  the  stumps  and  done  the 
best  I  could  to  get  it  in  shape.  I  plowed  it  just  as  soon  as 
the  ground  was  dry  enough,  about  the  first  of  April,  that 
is.  I  worked  it  every  little  while  just  as  nearly  as  I 
could  as  the  Hungarian  land  had  been  worked;  I  har- 
rowed and  rolled,  let  it  rest  a  while,  then  harrowed  and 
rolled.  I  kept  it  up  until  my  next  door  neighbor,  Mr. 
Croy,  had  planted  his  corn,  and  it  was  four  inches  high 
and  growing  pretty  well.  Ours  wasn't  planted.  A 
neighbor  came  and  said : '  I  am  sorry  for  you,  Terry ;  you 
don't  know  what  you  are  about.  You  are  fooling  away 
your  time.  Your  corn  ought  to  have  been  in  before  this.' 
I  was  harrowing  and  rolling.  I  was  determined  to  see 
whether  I  could  do  it  over  again.  Some  of  the  neighbors 
said  it  couldn't  be  done  again. 

"  The  fourth  or  fifth  of  June  —  too  late,  ordinarily, 
to  plant  corn  with  us  —  I  put  in  the  crop.  I  wish  you 
could  have  seen  it  grow !  It  came  up  and  grew  from  the 
word  'Go.'  In  four  weeks  it  was  ahead  of  any  corn 
about.  It  went  ahead  of  my  neighbor's  corn  that  was 
three  or  four  inches  high  when  ours  was  planted.  We 
had  a  crop  that,  the  farm  in  the  condition  that  it  was, 
was  considered  as  something  remarkable.  They  couldn't 
account  for  it,  neither  could  I.  All  I  knew  was  I  had 
been  working  the  ground  so  and  so  and  getting  such  and 
such  results. 


£96  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"Let  us  go  back  once  more.  The  first  year  that  I 
moved  onto  that  farm,  the  first  fall,  we  had  nine  cows,  and 
I  wanted  to  save  all  of  the  manure.  Now,  there  wasn't 
an  experimental  station  in  the  land.  I  didn't  know  any- 
thing about  the  potassium  or  nitrogen  in  the  liquid  ma- 
nure, but  I  had  seen  where  it  dropped  on  the  land  and 
how  the  grass  grew.  I  thought  it  was  plant  food,  and 
our  land  was  hungry.  I  said,  I  must  try  and  save  this 
manure,  and  not  have  it  wasted.  I  hadn't  a  dollar. 
What  did  I  do  ?  There  was  an  old  stable  there  that  would 
hold  ten  cows.  It  was  in  terrible  shape.  It  had  a  plank 
floor  that  was  all  broken.  I  tore  it  out.  I  hauled  some 
blue  clay.  I  filled  the  stable  four  or  five  inches  deep  with 
the  blue  clay,  wet  it,  pounded  it  down,  shaped  it  off  and 
got  it  level,  fixed  it  up  around  the  sides,  saucer  shape,  so 
it  would  hold  water.  Then  I  laid  down  some  old  boards 
(I  couldn't  buy  new  ones),  and  put  in  a  lot  of  straw 
there  and  put  my  cows  in.  I  saved  all  that  manure  the 
first  year,  all  that  liquid.  I  had  twice  as  much,  prob- 
ably more,  from  the  same  number  of  cows  as  had  been 
saved  on  that  farm  before,  and  it  was  much  more  valua- 
ble. That  was  the  beginning,  the  first  winter,  when  I 
hadn't  anything. 

"  For  the  horse  stable  I  went  to  town  and  found  some 
old  billboards.  It  was  new  lumber,  but  had  been  used 
for  billboards.  After  the  circus  the  owner  offered  to  sell 
the  boards  cheap,  and  to  trust  me.  He  was  a  carpenter 
and  he  jointed  them.  We  put  them  crosswise  on  the 
old  plank  floor,  and  when  they  got  wet  they  swelled  and 
became  practically  water-tight.  I  even  crawled  under 
and  saw  that  there  was  no  liquid  manure  dropping  down 
there.  I  drew  sawdust  and  used  for  bedding.  I  saved 
the  liquid  of  the  horse  stable.  I  didn't  know  it  was 
worth  three  times  as  much,  pound  for  pound,  as  the  solid. 


HARDER  TIMES  297 

I  didn't  know  it  was  worth  two  times  as  much  in  the 
cow  stable,  pound  for  pound,  as  the  solid.  I  found  it 
out  by  experience. 

"  Now,  when  I  was  in  town,  before  going  on  this  farm, 
I  worked  for  S.  Straight  &  Son,  the  then  great  cheese 
and  butter  kings  of  the  Western  Reserve.  I  was  getting 
over  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  in  their  office.  They 
didn't  want  me  to  leave  at  all,  but  my  wife  and  I  took  a 
notion  to  be  independent,  to  work  for  ourselves,  and  we 
bought  this  old  farm.  We  had  a  chance  to  work  for 
ourselves  all  right.  The  first  year  we  worked  from  early 
in  the  morning  until  nine  or  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and 
then  we  tumbled  into  bed,  too  tired  to  think,  to  get  up 
and  do  it  over  again.  I  worked  in  the  field,  taking  out 
stumps  and  doing  something,  as  long  as  I  could  see,  and 
then  helped  my  wife  to  milk.  We  would  get  our  supper 
along  about  nine  or  ten  o'clock.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
we  had  not  one  single  dollar,  after  paying  our  interest 
and  taxes, —  not  one  dollar  to  show  for  our  work.  Do 
you  wonder  we  were  pretty  discouraged? 

"  I  met  Mr.  Straight  one  day.  He  said :  '  Terry, 
things  are  not  going  very  well  in  the  office  since  you  left. 
I  wish  you  would  come  back.  You  are  not  doing  much 
over  on  that  farm  that  I  can  see.  You  are  having  a  hard 
time.  I  will  gladly  give  you  $1,200  a  year  if  you  will 
come  back  into  our  office.'  It  was  a  great  temptation. 
Think  what  it  meant!  To  move  back  to  town  and  have 
$100  a  month.  But  I  said:  'No,  Mr.  Straight;  I  can't 
do  it.*  I  don't  deserve  any  credit  for  it,  friends;  but  I 
wasn't  built  that  way.  I  can't  back  out.  When  I  un- 
dertake anything  I  have  got  to  go  through.  I  would 
have  been  willing  enough  to  leave  that  farm,  if  I  had  made 
a  success  of  it, —  after  I  made  a  success  of  it,  as  I  thought 
then;  but  I  wasn't  willing  to  give  up,  whipped  —  to  ac- 


298  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

knowledge  that  I  had  undertaken  that  job  and  had  to 
back  out  and  go  back  to  town  to  make  a  living. 

"  Some  little  incident  sometimes  will  change  the  whole 
character  of  a  man's  life.  I  remember  when  we  were  in 
very  hard  conditions  we  were  sitting  under  an  apple  tree 
in  our  dooryard  one  evening.  It  is  there  yet.  Two 
men  from  town  went  by.  One  of  them  said  to  the  other : 
'What  is  Terry  going  to  do?5  The  other  said:  'If 
Terry  sticks  to  it,  he  will  make  something  out  of  that  old 
farm.'  Just  as  quick  as  a  flash,  friends,  I  said,  '  Terry 
will  stick  to  it.' 

"  You  see  what  condition  we  were  in.  I  began  to  put 
all  these  matters  together.  I  had  been  taught  how  to. 
In  college  I  had  been  trained  to  study  and  think,  of 
course, —  not  to  work  with  my  hands.  When  I  got  onto 
the  work  at  first  I  worked  myself  almost  to  death  with 
my  hands,  and  had  no  time  to  think  or  study,  but  grad- 
ually old  methods  came  around  again  and  I  began  to 
think  and  study.  I  said :  '  Here,  more  hay  to  the  acre, 
better  hay,  increased  fertility  by  growing  that  clover, 
increased  fertility  by  working  that  soil  so  much.'  I 
didn't  know  why,  but  there  was  the  fact.  'Now,  isn't  it 
possible  to  put  these  matters  together  and  so  work  them 
out  as  to  build  up  the  fertility  of  this  farm  and  make  it 
blossom  like  the  rose  ?  ' 

"  I  began  to  work  it  out.  What  was  the  first  step  ? 
I  sold  eight  or  nine  cows  to  get  a  little  money  to  start, 
thus  cutting  off  practically  our  whole  source  of  income. 
There  was  no  other  way  I  could  get  any  money.  We  had 
to  do  some  draining.  A  part  of  the  land  we  could  not 
do  anything  with  until  it  was  tile-drained.  It  took  money 
to  buy  tile.  I  had  to  have  a  little  help  about  the  dig- 
ging, although  I  like  to  boast  that  I  laid  every  tile  on 
my  farm  with  my  own  hands.  I  buried  every  one  and 


HARDER  TIMES  299 

know  it  will  stay  there.  They  were  all  sound  and  hard 
and  good.  In  all  these  years  not  one  has  ever  failed,  not 
one  drain  or  tile.  I  worked  day  after  day,  in  the  rain, 
wet  to  the  skin,  because  it  had  to  be  done.  It  was  the 
foundation  of  our  success. 

"  As  I  was  coming  here  yesterday  and  passed  so  much 
of  your  flat  land  in  need  of  drainage,  I  thought,  drain- 
age is  the  foundation  of  success  for  lots  of  these  people 
down  here  in  Southern  Illinois.  You  can't  do  much  until 
you  have  the  water  out  of  the  land.  Then  you  have  a 
chance  to  do  something  with  tillage  and  manure-saving 
and  clover.  But  you  throw  away  your  efforts  when  you 
try  to  do  this  work  on  land  that  is  in  need  of  drainage. 

"  As  fast  as  possible  we  fixed  up  this  land.  Of  course, 
it  took  years.  We  hadn't  money,  and  there  were  many 
things  that  had  to  be  done, —  changing  fields,  getting  out 
stumps,  doing  drainage, —  it  all  took  time.  I  had  my 
plans  made  and  was  working  as  fast  as  I  could. 

"  Two  things  I  did  to  keep  life  in  our  bodies  until  we 
got  ready  to  make  some  money.  One  was  to  cut  off  every 
bit  of  timber  on  the  farm.  Our  neighbors  laughed  at  us 
and  prophesied  rain  and  all  that.  There  were  two  things 
in  my  mind.  We  had  to  have  money  to  live  on,  and  I 
managed  to  get  quite  a  little  of  it  in  that  way.  In  the 
next  place,  we  didn't  have  much  of  a  farm,  and  I  wanted 
the  land  for  tillage.  We  can  buy  wood  of  the  neigh- 
bors to-day  cheaper  than  we  sold  ours,  so  we  never  lost 
anything. 

"  Another  way  we  got  some  money  as  we  went  along 
that  helped  us  was  raising  forage  crops.  I  did  not  at- 
tempt to  put  in  crops  that  required  much  hand  labor.  I 
raised  Hungarian  and  everything  I  could  to  be  fed  to 
cows.  In  our  dairying  section,  with  feed  often  scarce  in 
the  fall,  farmers  often  had  more  stock  than  they  could 


300  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

winter.  We  could  pick  up  cows  cheaply  on  credit  and 
hold  them.  I  could  winter  them  for  people,  and  the 
manure  we  used  as  a  top  dressing  to  make  the  clover  grow. 
Starting  with  a  little  piece  of  land,  we  spread  out  more 
and  more,  and  got  more  and  more  enriched,  and  more 
and  more  growing  clover,  and  by  and  by  we  got  all  the 
cultivated  land  growing  it.  Then  we  were  ready  for 
business. 

"  I  am  afraid  to  tell  you  Illinois  farmers,  with  your 
great  big  farms,  how  large  our  farm  was.  We  bought 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres.  We  sold  off  all  but 
fifty-five.  That  didn't  help  us,  for  the  man  who  bought 
it  was  so  poor  he  didn't  pay  us  for  over  thirty  years. 
Then  the  land  went  up  in  price  and  he  was  able  to  sell  it 
for  a  good  price  and  we  got  our  money.  Fifty-five  acres 
were  selected,  the  best  we  could  for  our  purpose.  Twenty 
acres  were  so  situated  as  to  have  no  value.  Thirty-five 
acres  were  fairly  good,  tillable  land,  the  best  we  could  pick 
out.  I  began  a  system  of  rotation,  after  we  got  the  land 
ready  for  it,  of  clover,  potatoes  and  wheat.  My  idea 
was  to  have  the  clover  gather  fertility  to  grow  potatoes 
and  wheat.  I  was  going  to  make  use  of  the  tillage  to  help 
out  all  I  could,  and  sold  the  potatoes  and  wheat,  and  then 
had  clover  again,  and  so  on  around  the  circle.  Every- 
body said,  of  course,  I  would  fail.  I  didn't  know  but  I 
would.  It  was  the  only  chance  and  I  had  to  take  it. 

"  Of  course  it  took  quite  a  while  to  get  this  thing  go- 
ing. The  first  three  or  four  years  didn't  amount  to 
much.  After  six  or  eight  years  we  were  surprised  at  the 
result.  We  were  getting  more  than  we  hoped  for.  In  a 
dozen  years  the  whole  country  was  surprised.  I  remem- 
ber when  a  reporter  was  sent  from  Albany,  New  York,  to 
see  what  we  were  doing,  and  reported  in  the  Country 
Gentleman.  We  had  visitors  by  the  score  from  various 


HARDER  TIMES  301 

states,  it  made  such  a  stir.  They  couldn't  believe  it  was 
possible  for  a  man  to  take  land  as  poor  as  that  and  make 
it  produce  so  well.  We  had  some  they  could  see  that  had 
not  been  touched.  As  I  told  you,  in  eleven  years  we  were 
out  of  debt.  After  about  ten  or  eleven  years  we  were 
laying  up  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  above  all  living  and 
running  expenses,  from  this  land,  raising  potatoes  and 
wheat.  It  doesn't  seem  possible  to  you,  large  farmers, 
but  you  can't  get  around  the  facts.  In  1883  we  laid 
up  $1,700  from  the  land.  But  this  was  a  little  extra. 

"  We  wanted  to  build  a  new  house.  We  had  lived  in 
the  old  shell  long  enough.  We  had  the  money  to  pay 
cash  down  for  the  new  house  and  to  pay  for  the  furniture 
that  went  into  it.  We  paid  $3,500  cash  down  that  fall 
for  the  house  and  furniture,  and  every  dollar  taken  out 
of  the  land.  Only  two  or  three  years  before  that  we  paid 
the  last  of  our  debt.  I  had  not  done  any  talking  or 
writing  to  speak  of  at  that  time.  I  did  not  begin  until 
1882.  I  never  went  to  an  institute  and  never  wrote  an 
article  for  a  paper,  except  when  called  upon  to  do  it.  I 
never  sought  such  a  job  and  prefer  to  stay  at  home  on 
my  farm.  It  was  only  because  I  was  called  to  do  this 
work  that  I  got  into  it.  For  twenty-one  years  I  was 
never  at  home  one  week  during  the  winter  season.  Farm- 
ers called  for  me,  and  I  didn't  feel  that  I  could  refuss 
to  go. 

"  Now,  how  did  we  do  it?  I  told  some  of  the  things. 
Let  us  go  down  to  the  science  of  the  matter  a  little  now. 
I  didn't  know  anything  about  the  science  at  the  time. 
That  came  later.  Practice  came  first.  We  know  now  — 
of  course,  you  all  know  —  that  clover  has  the  ability, 
through  the  little  nodules  that  grow  on  the  roots,  to  take 
the  free  nitrogen  out  of  the  air  to  grow  itself.  You  know 
about  four-fifths  of  the  air  you  are  breathing  is  nitro- 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

gen  in  the  form  of  gas,  and  clover  has  the  ability  to  feed 
on  that  and  make  use  of  it.  The  other  plants  have  not. 
I  might  illustrate  it  in  this  way :  You  can't  eat  grass ;  at 
least,  you  wouldn't  do  very  well  on  it.  But  the  steer  eats 
grass  and  you  eat  the  steer,  so  you  get  the  grass,  don't 
you?  Your  corn,  wheat,  oats,  timothy,  potatoes,  so  far 
as  we  know,  can't  touch  free  nitrogen  in  the  air,  but 
clover  can  and  then  feed  it  to  those  other  crops. 

"  Let  us  look  into  how  we  got  the  phosphorus.  On 
land  that  would  not  grow  over  six  to  eight  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre  we  have  succeeded  once  in  growing  forty- 
seven  and  three-fourths  bushels  to  the  acre,  on  all  the 
land  sowed,  of  wheat  that  sold  away  above  the  market 
price  and  weighed  sixty-four  pounds  to  the  measured 
bushel,  and  never  put  on  a  pound  of  phosphorus.  We 
got  it  from  that  tillage  we  told  you  about.  Our  land  in 
northeastern  Ohio  is  not  very  good  naturally.  It  is 
nothing  like  what  you  have  in  this  State.  Most  of  you 
know  that  is  the  poorest  land  we  have  in  the  state  in  gen- 
eral, but  we  have  a  fair  share  of  clay  and  sand  in  ours. 
That  has  helped  us  wonderfully.  We  have  clay  enough 
so  that  with  our  tillage  we  can  make  so  far  all  the  plant 
food  available  we  want. 

"  Now,  a  little  more  about  the  tillage.  I  told  you  how 
we  worked  the  surface  of  that  ground  and  made  it  fine 
and  nice.  After  five  or  six  years,  perhaps,  of  this  kind 
of  work,  I  got  to  thinking  if  I  had  some  tool  that  would 
stir  that  ground  to  the  bottom  of  the  plowed  furrow  and 
mix  it  very  deeply  and  thoroughly,  I  might  get  still  bet- 
ter results  out  of  the  tillage.  I  happened  to  be  in  town 
one  morning  in  the  fall,  when  we  had  some  wheat  land 
(clover  sod)  plowed  and  prepared  for  wheat.  I  had 
harrowed  and  rolled  it  and  made  it  as  nice  as  I  could. 
It  was  what  the  neighbors  would  call  all  ready  for  sow- 


HARDER  TIMES  303 

ing  and  more  than  ready.  In  town  I  saw  a  man  trying 
to  sell  a  two-horse  cultivator.  I  think  it  was  made  in 
this  State.  It  was  the  first  one  I  ever  saw  — -  you  can 
judge  how  long  ago.  It  was  a  big,  heavy,  cumbersome 
thing, —  a  horse-killer.  I  thought,  if  I  only  had  that,  I 
knew  I  could  increase  the  fertility  of  our  soil  still  more. 
I  hadn't  any  money.  We  hadn't  got  far  enough  that 
there  was  a  dollar  to  spare.  What  did  I  do  ?  I  gave  my 
note  for  $50  and  took  that  cultivator  home  with  me.  I 
could  have  bought  it  for  $35  in  money,  but  I  didn't  have 
it.  My  wife  didn't  say  a  word  when  I  got  home.  I  have 
heard  since  that  she  did  a  lot  of  crying  to  think  I  would 
go  in  debt  $50  more,  and  all  for  that  thing. 

"  I  got  home  about  eleven  o'clock  and  you  can  well 
suspect  that  I  couldn't  eat  any  dinner  that  day.  I 
hitched  up  and  went  right  to  work,  and  told  my  wife  I 
couldn't  stop  for  any  dinner.  I  rode  that  cultivator 
that  day  and  tore  up  that  field  in  a  way  land  was  never 
torn  up  in  our  section  before.  There  was  nothing  to  do 
it  with.  The  soil  would  roll  up  and  tumble  over.  After 
going  lengthwise  I  went  crosswise.  A  thousand  hogs 
couldn't  have  made  it  rougher.  The  neighbors  looked  on 
and  said  that  *  Terry  would  do  'most  anything  if  you 
would  only  let  him  ride.'  The  worst  of  it  was,  I  really 
didn't  know  but  what  they  were  right,  and  all  he  would 
get  out  of  it  was  the  riding.  It  was  a  serious  thing.  I 
had  to  wait  until  the  harvest  time  before  I  could  know. 

"  What  was  the  result  ?  I  got  ten  bushels  of  wheat 
more  per  acre  than  had  ever  grown  on  the  land  before, 
without  any  manure  or  fertilizer  having  been  applied 
since  it  grew  the  previous  crop  in  the  rotation.  Clover 
had  been  grown.  It  was  a  clover  sod.  I  didn't  know 
how  much  came  from  the  clover  and  how  much  from  the 
tillage.  I  didn't  care ;  they  went  together  to  get  that  re- 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

suit.  I  asked  some  of  the  old  settlers  how  much  had  been 
grown  there  per  acre  during  their  recollection.  They  said 
twenty-three  bushels  was  the  most  they  had  known.  I 
got  thirty-three.  The  neighbors  said,  *  It  happened  so ; 
you  can't  do  it  again.'  You  know  how  they  talk,  to 
make  out  nothing  can  be  done  with  an  old  farm.  I  was 
interested  in  doing  it  again.  I  paid  that  note  and  had 
a  large  margin  of  profit  left,  you  see,  out  of  the  extra 
wheat.  It  all  came  right. 

"  The  next  year  I  took  the  next  field  in  rotation  and 
worked  it  in  the  same  way,  probably  more.  I  got  thir- 
teen bushels  more  wheat  per  acre  than  ever  grew  before. 
Thirty-six  bushels  of  wheat!  Such  a  thing  was  never 
heard  of  in  our  section  before;  land  that  would  not  grow 
anything  a  dozen  years  ago.  Do  you  wonder  I  have 
been  an  enthusiast  on  tillage  since  then?  Why,  they  call 
me  a  crank  sometimes.  It  is  a  good  crank,  as  it  has 
turned  out  prosperity  for  us. 

"  After  a  time  I  began  to  think,  Can't  we  carry  this 
matter  a  little  further?  People  generally  don't  culti- 
vate their  crops  more  than  two  or  three  times  in  a  sea- 
son. Can  I  cultivate  more  to  advantage?  I  began  to 
try  it,  six  or  eight  times,  eight  to  ten.  I  think  there 
have  been  dry  years  when  I  have  cutlivated  our  potatoes 
as  many  as  fifteen  times.  I  don't  believe  we  ever  went 
through  them  when  it  didn't  pay.  I  remember  one  fall 
when  it  was  a  wet  season.  When  the  tops  began  to  die 
and  got  to  the  point  where  I  could  see  the  space  between 
the  rows,  I  started  the  cultivators  again.  I  had  money 
then  to  hire  men  and  I  hired  plenty  of  them.  I  started 
to  cultivate  between  the  rows.  People  said :  *  What  is 
the  idiot  doing  now? '  I  said:  '  He  is  going  to  raise  five 
bushels  more  by  doing  that  work ;  that  is  what  he  is  after.' 

"  Now,  remember,  more  hay  to  the  acre,  better  hay, 


HARDER  TIMES  305 

increased  fertility  by  growing  clover,  increased  fertility 
by  working  this  land  over  and  over  in  the  different  ways 
I  have  told  you  of.  They  used  to  send  for  me  to  talk 
on  this  subject  before  I  knew  anything  about  it,  except 
that  I  had  done  it.  In  Wisconsin,  some  twenty  years 
ago,  I  helped  at  the  first  institute  held  in  the  state.  They 
sent  for  me  to  come  up.  I  told  them  what  I  was  doing 
and  how  I  thought  it  came  about,  what  I  thought  clover 
was  doing  for  me.  When  I  was  through  I  asked  Pro- 
fessor Henry,  who  was  in  the  audience,  to  tell  me  hon- 
estly what  he  thought  about  my  talk.  He  said :  *  As  a 
farmer  I  believe  you  are  right,  but  as  a  scientific  man  I 
dare  not  say  so  in  public.' 

"  Professor  Roberts  came  to  my  place  one  time  to  in- 
vestigate a  little.  I  knew  what  he  came  for.  I  showed 
him  around  and  showed  him  the  land  we  had  not  touched, 
not  to  this  day.  He  was  a  surprised  man.  I  remember 
the  second  crop  of  clover  was  at  its  best.  It  was  above 
his  knees.  He  says :  '  This  will  make  two  tons  of  hay  to 
the  acre,  and  it  is  the  second  crop.'  He  didn't  say  but 
very  little.  I  couldn't  get  him  to  talk  much.  He  went 
home  and  began  that  system  of  experiments  at  Ithaca 
that  has  practically  revolutionized  the  agriculture  of 
the  East  —  experiments  in  tillage.  Pretty  soon  we  had 
his  book  on  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  I  think  he  got  his 
inspiration  from  what  he  saw.  He  said  to  himself,  seems 
to  me,  *  Terry  has  something  that  scientific  men  do  not 
know.'  He  got  samples  of  soil  all  over  the  state.  They 
analyzed  the  soil  and  found  what  the  average  soil  of  New 
York  contained.  They  found  about  four  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds  of  nitrogen,  six  thousand  three  hundred 
pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  twenty-four  thousand 
pounds  of  potash  in  an  average  acre  eight  inches  deep; 
and  they  had  been  buying  potash  largely.  (Laughter.) 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  The  farm  we  moved  onto  was  the  old  Sanford  home- 
stead. Old  Mr.  Sanford  lived  there  and  brought  up  a 
large  family,  I  think  five  of  them  boys.  Every  one 
of  these  boys  left  the  farm  just  as  soon  as  they  could  get 
away.  There  wasn't  anything  in  farming  for  them. 
After  we  had  been  at  work  a  dozen  years  or  more  and  got 
things  going  nicely,  they  came  back  (one  of  them  lives 
in  Connecticut)  and  visited  the  old  homestead.  I  re- 
member Lorenzo  said,  *  It  seems  like  a  miracle.  I  don't 
know  how  you  did  it.  We  worked  from  daylight  to  dark, 
from  one  year's  end  to  another,  and  never  had  anything. 
We  boys  used  to  be  promised  a  holiday  on  the  Fourth 
of  July  if  the  corn  was  all  hoed.  That  was  all  we  got. 
How  on  earth  have  you  done  these  things  ? ' 

"  Friends,  there  were  three  farms  we  bought.  Old  Mr. 
Sanford  didn't  know  anything  about  but  one.  There  was 
the  air  and  the  soil  and  there  was  the  subsoil.  He  had 
been  working  only  the  soil,  plowing  it  three  or  four  inches 
deep,  scratching  it  over,  taking  what  came,  and  every 
year  less  and  less  came.  The  land  had  run  down  until 
the  surface  had  quit  producing.  We  took  the  same  soil, 
put  in  clover  and  took  the  fertility  out  of  the  upper  farm, 
the  air,  and  out  of  the  lower  one,  the  subsoil,  and  put  it 
into  the  second  one.  We  plowed  the  surface  soil  a  little 
deeper  and  deeper  until  we  got  it  eight  or  nine  inches 
deep  instead  of  four.  We  worked  it  more  and  more,  set- 
ting more  and  more  of  the  available  plant  food  in  the  soil 
free.  That  is  how  we  did  it. 

"  I  say  '  we*  advisedly,  because,  friends,  if  I  hadn't 
had  a  wife  fully  able  and  willing  to  do  her  part,  and 
more,  I  would  not  have  this  story  to  tell." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIH 

AN  AWAKENING  DREAM 

4CfTTl  HE  chores  are  all  done,"  said  Mrs.  Johnston,  as 
Percy  began  to  take  down  his  heavy  work-coat 
about  nine  o'clock  that  evening. 

"  You  ought  not  to  have  done  them,"  he  chided,  as  he 
slipped  his  arm  around  her  and  drew  her  to  the  sofa. 

"  Tell  me  about  the  Institute,"  she  said,  stroking  the 
hair  from,  his  forehead. 

He  told  her  of  the  professors  who  were  there  from  the 
University  and  briefly  reported  the  addresses  he  had 
heard. 

"  And  I  verily  believe,"  he  added,  "  that  if  Terry  were 
to  wake  up  some  morning  and  find  himself  located  on  the 
*  Barrens  '  of  the  Highland  Rim  of  Tennessee,  he  would 
start  out  with  the  firm  conviction  that  all  he  would  need 
to  do  to  become  a  successful  farmer  there  would  be  to  sow 
clover  and  then  '  work  the  land  for  all  that's  in  it.'  But, 
after  all,  it  is  not  so  strange,  perhaps,  that  one  who  has 
himself  discovered  and  then  utilized  the  power  of  clover 
and  tillage  to  restore  and  increase  the  productive  power 
of  land  rich  in  limestone,  phosphorus  and  all  other  es- 
sential mineral  plant  food,  should  jump  to  the  fixed  and 
final  conclusion  that  the  same  system  of  treatment  is  all 
that  is  needed  to  make  any  and  all  land  productive.  The 
fact  that  Terry's  land  (if  equal  to  the  near-by  New  York 
land)  contained  two  thousand  three  hundred  pounds  of 
phosphorus  in  the  plowed  soil  of  an  acre  when  he  began 
to  work  it  out,  while  the  soil  of  the  Tennessee  *  Barrens  ' 

307 


308  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

contains  less  than  one  hundred  pounds,  does  not  dis- 
turb him  or  modify  his  opinion  so  long  as  his  personal  ex- 
perience is  limited  to  his  own  land. 

"  Terry's  problem  was  easier  than  Mr.  West's  on  his 
Virginia  farm,  where  the  soil  is  acid  and  hence  limestone 
must  be  used  liberally  in  order  that  clover  and  other  le- 
gumes may  be  grown  successfully.  Even  the  supply  of 
phosphorus  and  other  mineral  elements  is  probably 
greater  in  Terry's  farm  in  northeastern  Ohio  than  in  the 
soil  of  Westover. 

"  Our  problem  is  even  more  difficult,  because  we  must 
not  only  increase  the  supply  of  active  organic  matter, 
although  we  have  a  reserve  of  old  humus  far  above  that 
contained  in  the  best  soil  of  Westover;  but  in  addition 
we  need  more  limestone  than  Mr.  West  and  then  we  must 
add  the  phosphorus.  Of  course,  the  surface  washing  is 
a  serious  factor  on  Westover,  but  perhaps  our  tight  clay 
subsoil  is  worse. 

"  But  I  learned  at  least  two  things  that  I  shall  try  to 
profit  by.  One  of  these  was  from  Governor  Hoard's  lec- 
ture on  '  Cows  Versus  Cows,  and  the  Man  behind  the 
Cow'  ;  and  the  other  is  that  we  must  do  more  work  on; 
the  land." 

"  Oh,  Percy,  I  am  so  sorry  you  went.  How  can  you 
possibly  do  more  work  than  you  have  been  doing?  " 

"  I  may  need  to  hire  more,"  he  replied,  "  and,  of  course, 
that  will  further  increase  our  expenses,  but  it  will  surely 
pay  to  do  well  what  we  try  to  do." 

"  When  does  my  boy  expect  to  get  married  ? "  she 
asked,  softly,  as  she  gently  stroked  his  hair. 

"  I  am  married,"  he  replied. 

She  looked  at  him  in  wonder. 

"  Mother  mine,  I  thought  that  you  knew  I  was  mar- 
ried, for  you  were  present  at  the  wedding  ceremony." 


AN  AWAKENING  DREAM  309 

"Your  face  is  blank  sincerity,  as  usual,"  she  said, 
smiling,  "  but  you  never  deceive  me  with  your  voice. 
Your  voice  reveals  every  attempt  at  deception.  Tell  me 
what  you  mean." 

His  voice  was  sincere  now.  "  I  am  married  to  a  farm 
and  laboring  together  with  God.  After  hearing  Terry's 
talk,  I  am  more  than  ever  determined  to  continue  to  do 
my  part,  working  in  the  light  as  He  gives  me  the  power 
to  see  the  light.  Terry's  success  was  due  to  his  sta- 
bility quite  as  much  as  to  his  good  fortune  in  having 
purchased  a  farm  which  lacked  only  drainage  and  clover 
to  make  it  productive;  and,  by  including  in  his  rotation 
such  a  valuable  market-garden  crop  as  potatoes,  he  was, 
of  course,  able  to  secure  large  financial  returns  from  a 
small  farm.  On  the  other  hand,  he  had  to  work  in  the 
dark;  that  is,  to  learn  by  his  own  experience  or  experi- 
ments; whereas,  we  have  the  light  of  exact  chemical  and 
mathematical  science  to  guide  us,  so  that  the  improvement 
of  Poorland  Farm  is  not  an  experiment  but  a  straight 
business  enterprise,  which  cannot  fail  if  I  do  well  my  part." 

"  Percy  dear,"  she  asked,  "  did  you  know  the  bride 
whose  wedding  cards  you  received  yesterday  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  remember  what  I  told  you  of  Adelaide 
West,  Mr.  West's  daughter?"  he  queried. 

"  I  thought  so,"  said  the  mother.  She  stepped  to 
Percy's  homemade  desk  and  from  one  of  the  pigeon  holes 
drew  out  a  bunch  of  letters,  and  selected  the  top  and  bot- 
tom letters  from  the  pile. 

**  Here  are  the  first  and  last  letters  you  have  received 
from  Mr.  West.  Did  you  ever  see  this  ? "  She  drew 
out  a  crumpled  piece  of  paper  and  placed  it  in  his  hand. 

"Her  Grandma  has  not  consented,"  he  read.  "  What 
does  that  mean  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  and  I  did  not  know  when  I  read  it  three 


310  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

years  ago.  It  came  in  your  first  letter  from  Mr.  West. 
I  thought  you  had  not  found  it  in  the  envelope,  but  you 
gave  me  the  letter  to  read  and  I  found  it.  I  left  it  in 
the  letter,  but  never  till  to-day  did  I  feel  that  I  ought  to 
mention  it  to  you.  Yesterday  you  received  a  letter  with 
two  cards,  but  you  read  only  one  of  them  to  me." 

"  But  I  saw  the  other  was  only  the  wedding  announce- 
ment, and  I  left  them  both  in  the  letter  for  you  to  read." 

"And  I  read  them  both,"  she  said.  "Read  this." 
Percy  took  the  card  and  slowly  read: 

.  anb  4Hr*.  Clarence 


ANNOUNCE  THE   MARRIAGE 
OF  THEIR   DAUGHTER 

Amelia  Houtee 

TO 


She  watched  his  face,  but  saw  no  sign.  She  kissed  his 
forehead  and  then  pointed  to  the  writing,  '*  With  Grand- 
ma's Compliments,"  saying,  "  I  do  not  know  what  this 
means,  but  I  thought  my  boy  might  be  getting  too  care- 
less when  he  fails  to  read  even  the  wedding  announcements 
of  college  professors,  sent  to  him  by  such  a  good  friend 
as  Grandma  West  may  intend  to  be." 

Percy  looked  into  his  mother's  face  as  if  to  read  her 
thoughts. 

"  I  think  I  understand  what  you  have  in  mind,"  he  said. 
"  Mr.  West  has  mentioned  once  or  twice  that  Adelaide 
was  teaching  school,  but  I  supposed  that  she  was  trying 
to  earn  enough  to  buy  her  own  wedding  outfit." 

"  Perhaps  that  is  true,"  replied  the  mother,  "  and 
perhaps  she  is  already  married  or  soon  to  be  married, 
but  I  thought  you  ought  to  know  that  she  had  not  mar- 
ried Professor  Barstow,  lest  you  might  allude  to  it  in  your 
letters  to  Mr.  West." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
HONEY  WITHOUT  WAX 

£4"Y  "Tf  T  ELL,  I  reckon  the  cowboy's  gone  back  to 
\/  \r       'tend  to  his    cows,"   remarked  the   grand- 
mother to  Adelaide,  as  she  returned  from 
taking  Percy  to  Blue  Mound  and  found  the  old  lady  sit- 
ting on  the  lawn  bench,  apparently  enjoying  the  mild  late 
November  weather.     "  Did  you  leave  him  at  the  station  or 
see  him  off?  " 

"  Neither,"  Adelaide  replied,  sitting  down  beside  her. 
"  The  train  was  late,  and  he  insisted  on  coming  back  with 
me  to  the  first  turn,  and  then  stood  and  watched  till  I 
came  within  sight  of  home  at  the  next  turn.  I  doubt  if 
he  is  back  to  the  station  yet." 

"  He  reminds  me,  Pet,  of  the  Latin  definition  you  gave 
for  sincere,"  remarked  the  grandmother.  "Pure  honey 
without  wax,  wasn't  it?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  Grandma.  Not  pure  honey.  It  says  noth- 
ing about  honey.  Sine  is  the  Latin  for  without,  and  cera 
means  wax,  so  that  our  word  sincere,  taken  literally  from 
the  Latin,  means  without  wax." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  see  now ;  but  let  me  tell  you,  Adelaide,  I 
think  that  professor  of  yours  is  right  smart  wax." 

"  Why,  Grandma !  I  never  heard  you  say  such  a  thing. 
You  know  papa  and  mamma  like  Professor  Barstow,  and 
I  think  I  like  him,  too,  and, —  and  he  has  papa's  consent 
and  mamma's  consent." 

"  Well,  you  never  heard  me  say  such  a  thing  before 
and  you  won't  ever  hear  it  again,  but  he  hasn't  got  my 

311 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

consent.  I  think  he's  some  wax,  but  I  reckon  you  think 
he's  some  honey,  and  I  know  he  thinks  he's  some  punk'ns. 
Of  course,  your  father  would  like  an  English  or  Scottish 
nobleman  for  a  son-in-law,  or  at  least  a  college  professor 
with  a  string  of  ancestry  reaching  across  the  water;  but 
the  Henrys  prefer  to  make  their  own  reputations  as  they 
go  along,  and  I  doubt  if  Patrick  ever  saw  England  or 
Scotland.  I  tell  you,  Adelaide,  a  pound  of  gumption  will 
make  a  better  husband  than  a  shipload  of  ancestry,  and  I 
just  hope  you  will  more  than  like  your  husband,  that's 
all." 

With  that  the  old  lady  arose  and  walked  to  the  house. 


CHAPTER  XL 

INSPIRATION 

WESTOVER, 
March  14,  1907. 
Mr.  Percy  Johnston, 
Heart-of-Egypt,  111. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND:  —  We  were  delighted  to  receive 
your  interesting  letter  of  March  2,  describing 
the  Farmers'  Institute.  I  have  been  to  two  such 
meetings  in  Virginia,  but  they  are  devoted  to  fruit  and 
truck  and  dairying,  and  no  one  seems  to  know  much  about 
our  soils.  I  appreciate  more  and  more  every  year  the 
absolute  knowledge  you  helped  me  to  secure  concerning 
Westover,  where  we  had  been  working  in  the  dark  for  two 
centuries.  I  am  sure  you  will  succeed  on  Poorland  Farm, 
—  just  as  confident  as  anyone  can  be  in  advance  of  actual 
achievement;  and  I  expect  to  see  the  time  when  Richland 
Farm  will  be  a  more  appropriate  name. 

I  only  wish  you  could  see  my  alfalfa.  I  have  been 
seeding  more  every  year  and  now  have  sixty  acres.  It 
has  come  through  winter  in  fine  condition  and  it  will  be 
a  fine  sight  by  Easter.  Here's  a  standing  invitation  to 
take  Easter  dinner  with  us,  or  any  other  dinner,  for  that 
matter,  if  you  ever  come  East. 

I  am  planning  to  sow  about  forty  acres  more  alfalfa 
this  year.  A  writer  for  the  Breeder's  Gazette  visited 
us  last  summer,  and  he  said  some  of  our  alfalfa  was  as 
good  as  any  he  had  ever  seen  in  California.  He  said 
ground  limestone  was  plainly  what  we  need  for  alfalfa  at 

313 


814  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

Westover,  but  he  thought  some  phosphorus  would  also 
help  on  the  less  rolling  areas,  where  the  alfalfa  is  not  so 
good  as  where  you  found  more  phosphorus. 

I  can  get  ground  limestone  for  $2.90  a  ton  now,  deliv- 
ered at  Blue  Mound  in  bulk  in  carload  lots.  We  are  hop- 
ing to  get  it  still  lower,  and  I  think  we  will,  for  some  of 
the  big  lime  manufacturers,  such  as  the  company  at  Riv- 
erton,  are  making  plans  to  furnish  ground  limestone; 
and  the  railroad  companies  are  likely  to  make  better 
rates,  or  the  State  will  do  so  for  them. 

It  is  truly  a  lamentable  situation,  when  our  hills  and 
mountains  are  full  of  all  sorts  of  limestone,  and  our  ex- 
hausted lands  are  crying  for  that  more  than  anything 
else.  We  understand,  even  better  than  you,  that  every- 
body is  poor  in  a  country  where  the  land  is  poor ;  and  it 
should  be  to  the  greatest  interest  of  the  railroad  com- 
panies, as  well  as  to  all  other  industries,  to  unite  in  an 
effort  to  make  it  possible  for  every  landowner  to  apply 
large  amounts  of  limestone  to  his  land, —  the  more  the 
better, —  and  no  one  should  expect  any  large  profit  from 
the  business ;  but  wait  till  the  benefit  is  produced  on  the 
land, —  wait  till  the  farmer  has  his  increased  crops  and 
some  money  from  the  sale  of  those  crops.  Then  the  rail- 
roads can  make  profit  hauling  those  crops  to  market  and 
hauling  back  the  necessary  supplies,  and  even  the  lux- 
uries, which  the  farmer's  money  will  enable  him  to  buy 
and  pay  for.  Then  the  factory  wheels  turn;  for,  as  you 
told  us,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  reports  that  eighty- 
six  per  cent,  of  all  the  manufactured  products  are  made 
from  agricultural  raw  materials. 

There  is  no  danger  but  what  the  railroads  and  manu- 
facturers and  commercial  people  will  get  their  share  out 
of  the  produce  from  the  farms,  but  it  is  absolutely  sure 
that  when  the  farms  fail  to  produce,  then  there  is  no 


INSPIRATION  315 

profit  for  any  of  them,  and  the  last  man  to  starve  out  will 
be  the  farmer  himself,  for  he  can  live  on  what  he  raises, 
even  though  he  has  nothing  left  to  sell. 

We  are  all  well.  My  son  Charles  is  still  bookkeeping 
for  a  Richmond  firm,  but  he  is  becoming  greatly  inter- 
ested in  my  alfalfa,  and  says  he  sometimes  wishes  he  had 
taken  an  agricultural  course  instead  of  the  literary  at 
college.  His  grandmother  says  she  reckons  the  agricul- 
tural college  could  give  him  about  all  the  literature  he 
needs  keeping  books  for  a  hides  and  tallow  wholesale 
company,  and  I  am  coming  to  believe  that  she  is  about 
right.  I  still  remember  that  the  dative  of  indirect  ob- 
ject is  used  with  most  Latin  verbs  compounded  with  ad, 
ante,  con,  in,  inter,  ob,  post,  pre,  pro,  sub  and  super,  and 
sometimes  circum;  but  it  would  have  been  just  as  easy 
for  me  to  have  learned  forty  years  ago  that  the  essen- 
tial elements  of  plant  food  are  carbon,  oxygen  and  hy- 
drogen ;  nitrogen,  phosphorus  and  potassium ;  magnesium, 
calcium,  iron  and  sulfur,  and  possibly  chlorin;  and  I  am 
sure  that  the  culture  of  Greek  roots  and  a  knowledge  of 
Latin  compounds  have  been  of  less  value  to  me  during  the 
forty  years  than  the  culture  of  alfalfa  roots  and  even  a 
meager  knowledge  of  plant-food  compounds  have  been 
during  the  last  three  years. 

Adelaide  is  teaching ;  Frank  is  in  the  academy ;  and  the 
younger  children  are  all  in  school. 

We  shall  always  be  glad  to  hear  from  you. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

CHAELES  WEST. 

"That  is  an  exceptionally  good  letter,"  said  Mrs. 
Johnston,  as  Percy  finished  reading. 

"Not  for  Mr.  West,"  he  replied.  "His  letters  are 
always  good,  always  helpful  and  encouraging,  almost  an 


316  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

inspiration  to  me.  Mr.  West  is  in  many  ways  a  very 
exceptional  man.  If  he  had  not  been  tied  down  all  his 
life  to  a  so-called  worn-out  farm  of  a  thousand  acres,  he 
might  just  as  well  have  been  the  Governor  of  the  State. 
Even  in  spite  of  himself,  he  has  been  practically  forced 
to  accept  some  very  responsible  public  offices,  but  the 
financial  sacrifice  was  too  great  to  permit  his  retaining 
them  very  long.  I  never  realized  until  I  was  nearly 
through  college  that  the  trustees  of  our  University  de- 
vote a  large  amount  of  time  to  that  public  service  with 
no  financial  remuneration  whatever.  They  are  merely 
reimbursed  for  their  actual  and  necessary  traveling  ex- 
penses." 

"  Well,  if  I  were  a  young  man  about  your  age,  this 
letter  would  be  an  inspiration  to  me,"  said  his  mother. 

"  You  mean  his  suggestion  about  changing  the  name 
of  our  farm  ?  " 

"  No,  I  mean  his  possible  suggestion  about  changing 
the  name  of  his  daughter." 

Percy  was  silent. 

"How  can  I  tell  anything  from  your  blank  face? 
Why  do  you  not  speak?  " 

"  You  will  have  to  show  me^"  said  Percy. 

"  Will  you  accept  his  invitation  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  West  always  closes  his  letters  with  an  invi- 
tation for  me  to  visit  them  if  I  ever  come  East.  There 
is  nothing  exceptional  or  unusual  in  that." 

"  The  letter  is  very  exceptional,"  she  repeated,  "  in- 
somuch that  if  there  is  no  understanding  there  is  no  mis- 
understanding, and  if  there  is  some  misunderstanding 
there  was  no  intention.  When  Mrs.  Barton  says :  '  Do 
come  over  when  you  can,'  there  is  no  invitation  intended 
and  no  acceptance  expected,  but  when  Mrs.  McKnight 
says :  *  Can't  you  and  your  son  come  over  and  take  sup- 


INSPIRATION  3171 

per  with  us  Thursday  evening,' — well,  there  is  an  invi- 
tation to  come.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  West's  letter,  per- 
haps you  have  an  invitation  to  spend  the  Easter  vacation 
at  Westover  when  his  daughter  will  be  at  home, —  and 
perhaps  not." 

Percy  was  silent  and  his  mother  quietly  waited. 

"  In  any  case,"  he  said,  "  I  cannot  afford  to  go  this 
spring.  We  never  were  so  short  of  funds.  I  almost  be- 
grudged the  railroad  fare  I  paid  to  go  to  the  Institute." 

"  I  have  agreed  to  agree  with  you  regarding  the  mat- 
ter of  hiring  more  help  on  the  farm  if  you  need  it,"  she 
said ;  "  for  it  is  easily  possible  to  lose  by  saving.  There 
are  some  things  which  should  never  be  influenced  by  finan- 
cial considerations.  It  is  more  than  three  years  since 
your  Eastern  trip.  You  need  a  rest  and  a  change.  It 
would  be  entirely  commonplace  for  you  to  spend  the 
Easter  time  in  Virginia.  You  ought  to  see  the  country 
in  the  spring;  and  you  ought  especially  to  be  interested 
in  Mr.  West's  sixty  acres  of  alfalfa.  Expectations  are 
always  followed  either  by  realization  or  by  disappoint- 
ment, either  of  which  my  noble  son  can  bear." 

Her  fingers  passed  through  his  hair  as  she  kissed  his 
forehead. 

"  The  only  question  is,  whether  you  would  enjoy  a  visit 
to  Westover,"  she  continued.  "  You  have  insisted  that 
the  Winterbine  deposit  remain  in  my  name,  but  I  have 
written  and  signed  a  check  against  that  reserve  for  $100, 
and  you  have  only  to  fill  in  the  date  and  draw  the  amount 
at  the  County  Seat  whenever  you  wish.  If  you  go,  ex- 
press my  regards  to  the  ladies,  and  especially  remember 
me  to  the  grandmother." 


CHAPTER  XLI 

THE  KlNDERGAETEN 

HEAKT-OF-EGYPT,  ILLINOIS, 

November  9,  1909. 
Hon.  James  J.  Hill, 

Great  Northern  Railroad  Company, 
St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

MY  DEAR  SIR :  —  I  have  read  with  very  great  in- 
terest your  article  in  the  November  World's 
Work  on  "  What  We  Must  Do  to  Be  Fed."  I 
wonder  if  you  read  The  American  Farm  Review!  In  the 
editorial  columns  of  that  journal,  issue  of  October  28, 
1909,  occurs  the  following: 

"  The  pessimist  always  assumes  that  every  man  who 
quits  farming  for  some  other  business  does  so  because 
there  is  something  the  matter  with  the  farm.  Mr.  James 
J.  Hill  has  recently  considered  the  question  and  decided 
that,  unless  the  farmer  and  his  family  can  be  confined 
on  the  land  and  be  compelled  to  do  better  work  than  they 
have  been  doing,  the  balance  of  the  population  must 
starve  to  death.  The  bug-a-boo  of  impending  decadence 
raised  by  such  talk  is  based  upon  a  wrong  assumption, 
inadequate  statistics  and  a  failure  to  comprehend  the 
evolutional  movement  in  agriculture." 

The  evolutional  movement  means,  of  course,  that  we  are 
different  from  other  people.  Have  not  England,  Ger- 
many and  France  run  their  lands  down  until  they  pro- 
duce only  fourteen  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  and  have 
we  not  steadily  built  ours  up  to  an  average  yield  of  thirty 
bushels?  Other  peoples  wear  out  their  soil  because  they 

318 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  319 

fail  to  have  part  in  the  evolutional  movement ;  whereas,  did 
we  not  come  to  America  and  at  once  begin  to  make  our 
rich  land  richer  than  it  ever  was  in  the  virgin  state?  Do 
you  not  know,  Sir,  that  the  oldest  lands  in  America  are 
now  the  richest,  most  productive  and  most  valuable?  We 
admit,  of  course,  that  the  Bureau  of  Soils  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  reports  the  common 
level  upland  loam  soil  of  St.  Mary  County,  Maryland,  to 
be  valued  at  $1  to  $3  an  acre,  and  the  same  kind  of  land 
in  Prince  George  county,  adjoining  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia, to  be  worth  $1.50  to  $5 ;  but  do  you  not  know 
the  American  evolutional  movement  could  easily  move  all 
those  decimal  points  two  places  and  at  once  make  those 
values  read  from  $100  to  $500  an  acre.  And,  likewise,  it 
would  be  a  very  simple  matter  to  change  the  yield  of 
corn  in  Georgia  from  eleven  bushels  per  acre  and  have 
it  read  one  hundred  and  ten  bushels.  Why  not,  if  an 
acre  of  corn  in  the  adjoining  State  of  South  Carolina  has 
produced  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  bushels  in  one  sea- 
son? Do  you  not  see  that  this  simple  evolution  would 
also  put  plate  glass  in  the  thousands  of  windowless  homes 
now  inhabited  by  human  beings,  both  white  and  colored, 
in  the  State  of  Georgia? 

There  is  another  phase  of  this  evolutional  movement 
which  should  not  be  overlooked.  There  is  already  fast 
developing  in  this  country  a  class  of  people  who  can  live 
and  grow  fat  on  hot  air,  and  they  will  tell  you  that  your 
only  trouble  is  poor  digestion,  and  they  are  glad  that 
they  can  see  the  bright  side  of  things  and  enjoy  life  in 
this  glorious  country,  assured  that  the  future  will  take 
care  of  itself.  Have  not  all  other  great  agricultural 
countries  rapidly  gotten  into  this  evolutional  movement 
until  all  their  people  live  on  Easy  street? 

I  have  a  letter  from  a  missionary  in  China,  a  former 


820  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

schoolmate,  Clarence  Robertson,  who  resigned  the  posi- 
tion of  assistant  professor  of  mechanical  engineering  in 
Purdue  University  in  order  to  accept  in  the  largest  sense 
the  Master's  specific  invitation  to  "  Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
teach  all  nations." 

This  letter  was  written  in  February,  1907,  and  con- 
tained the  following  statement  regarding  the  famine  dis- 
trict in  which  the  writer  was  located: 

"  At  the  present  time  the  only  practical  thing  to  do  is 
to  let  four  hundred  thousand  people  starve,  and  try  to  get 
seed  grain  for  the  remainder  to  plant  their  spring  crops." 

I  think  we  have  failed  utterly,  Mr.  Hill,  to  lay  special 
emphasis  upon  either  the  evolutional  or  the  emotional  in 
agriculture.  Is  it  not  probable  that  a  superabundance 
of  emotion  would  even  permit  the  constitution  to  wave  the 
bread  requirement  in  the  bread-and-water-with-love  diet? 
As  a  cure  for  pessimism  the  emotional  tonic  is  strongly 
recommended. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  people  who  are  even 
too  emotional,  people  who  are  inclined  to  sit  up  and  take 
notice  when  the  mathematics  and  statistics  are  spread  out 
in  clear  light  and  plainly  reveal  the  fact  that  the  time  is 
near  at  hand  when  their  children  may  lack  for  bread. 
(They  already  lack  for  meat  and  milk  and  eggs  in  many 
places.)  To  allay  any  feeling  of  this  sort  that  might  tend 
to  excite  those  who  are  so  emotional  as  even  to  love  their 
own  grandchildren,  some  sort  of  soothing  syrup  should  be 
administered.  A  preparation  put  out  by  the  Chief  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Soils  and  fully  endorsed  by  the 
great  optimist,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  is  recom- 
mended as  an  article  very  much  superior  to  Mrs.  Wins- 
low's.  As  a  moderate  dose  for  an  adult,  read  the  follow- 
ing extracts  from  pages  66,  78,  and  80  of  Bureau  of  Soils 
Bulletin  55  (1909),  by  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau: 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  321 

"  The  soil  is  the  one  indestructible  immutable  asset  that 
the  nation  possesses.  It  is  the  one  resource  that  cannot 
be  exhausted ;  that  cannot  be  used  up." 

**  From  the  modern  conception  of  the  nature  and  pur- 
pose of  the  soil  it  is  evident  that  it  cannot  wear  out,  that 
so  far  as  the  mineral  food  is  concerned  it  will  continue 
automatically  to  supply  adequate  quantities  of  the  mineral 
plant  foods  for  crops." 

"  As  we  see  it  now,  the  main  cause  of  infertile  soils  or 
the  deterioration  of  soils  is  the  improper  sanitary  con- 
ditions originally  present  in  the  soil  or  arising  from  our 
injudicious  culture  and  rotation  of  crops.  It  is,  of  course, 
exceedingly  difficult  to  work  out  the  principles  which  gov- 
ern the  proper  rotation  for  any  particular  soil." 

"  As  a  national  asset  the  soil  is  safe  as  a  means  of  feed- 
ing mankind  for  untold  ages  to  come.  So  far  as  our  in- 
vestigations show,  the  soil  will  not  be  exhausted  of  any 
one  or  all  of  its  mineral  plant  food  constituents.  If  the 
coal  and  iron  give  out,  as  it  is  predicted  they  will  before 
long,  the  soil  can  be  depended  on  to  furnish  food,  light, 
heat,  and  habitation  not  only  for  the  present  population 
but  for  an  enormously  larger  population  than  the  world 
has  at  present." 

"  Personally,  I  take  a  most  hopeful  view  of  the  situation 
as  respects  the  soil  resources  of  our  country  and  of  the 
world  at  large.  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  that  the 
discouraging  reports  that  have  been  issued  from  time  to 
time  as  to  the  threatened  deterioration  of  our  soils,  as  to 
the  exhaustion  of  any  particular  element  of  fertility,  will 
ever  be  realized." 

Sweeten  to  taste,  and  repeat  the  dose  if  necessary. 

If  you  desire  mathematical  proof  that  we  can  always 
continue  to  take  definite  and  measurable  amounts  of  plant 
food  away  from  the  limited  supplies  still  remaining  in  our 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

American  soils  and  still  have  enough  left  to  supply  the 
needs  of  all  future  crops,  let  it  be  understood: 

That  y  =  x 
Then  xy  =  x% 
And  xy  —  yz  =  x2 — y2 
Or  y(x  —  y)  =  (x  +  y)  (x  —  y) 
Hence,  y  =  x  -f  y 
Thus,  y  =  2y 
Therefore,  1  =  2 

Now  cube  both  sides  of  the  last  equation  and: 
1  =  8 

Multiply  by  one  hundred  and  sixty,  the  number  of 
pounds  of  phosphorus  still  remaining  in  the  common  up- 
land soil  of  Southern  Maryland,  and  behold: 

160  =  1280 

Thus  the  soil  again  becomes  the  equal  of  the  $200  corn 
belt  land,—  Q.  E.  D. 

Fortunately,  Mr.  Hill,  you  have  not  found  it  "  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  work  out  the  principles  which  govern  the 
proper  rotation  "  that  "  actually  enriches  the  land." 

Seriously,  I  hope  you  will  permit  me  to  take  this  op- 
portunity to  say  that  I  deplore,  as  must  all  right-minded 
and  clear-thinking  men,  the  occasional  petty  criticisms 
which  attribute  to  you  some  selfish  motive  for  the  honest 
and  noble  stand  you  have  taken  concerning  the  importance 
of  immediate  action  and  of  a  widespread,  far-reaching, 
and  generally  effective  movement  looking  toward,  not  the 
conservation,  but  the  restoration  and  permanent  preser- 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  323 

vation  of  American  soils.  According  to  the  Scriptures, 
there  is  a  sin  which  God,  Himself,  will  not  forgive ;  namely, 
the  sin  of  imputing  bad  motives  to  the  one  who  does  right 
from  motives  only  good  and  pure. 

Thoughts  that  deserve  a  place  of  honor  in  American 
history  you  have  expressed  in  the  following  words: 

"  The  farm  is  the  basis  of  all  industry,  but  for  many 
years  this  country  has  made  the  mistake  of  unduly  assist- 
ing manufacture,  commerce,  and  other  activities  that 
center  in  cities,  at  the  expense  of  the  farm.  The  result 
is  a  neglected  system  of  agriculture  and  the  decline  of  the 
farming  interest.  But  all  these  other  activities  are 
founded  upon  the  agricultural  growth  of  the  nation  and 
must  continue  to  depend  upon  it.  Every  manufacturer, 
every  merchant,  every  business  man,  and  every  good  citi- 
zen is  deeply  interested  in  maintaining  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  our  agricultural  resources.  Herein  lies  the 
true  secret  of  our  anxious  interest  in  agricultural  methods ; 
because,  in  the  long  run,  they  mean  life  or  death  to  future 
millions;  who  are  no  strangers  or  invaders,  but  our  own 
children's  children,  and  who  will  pass  judgment  upon  us 
according  to  what  we  have  made  of  the  world  in  which 
their  lot  is  to  be  cast." 

True  and  noble  thoughts  are  these,  from  the  master 
mind  of  a  great  statesman ;  for  there  are  statesmen  who 
neither  grace  nor  disgrace  the  Halls  of  Congress. 

Your  article  contains  twenty-eight  pages  of  wholesome 
reading  matter  and  instructive  illustrations,  and,  in  ad- 
dition, about  one  page,  I  regret  to  say,  of  misinformation 
that  will  do  much  to  destroy  your  otherwise  valuable  con- 
tribution to  agricultural  literature. 

Briefly  you  have  shown  very  clearly  and  very  correctly 
that  the  present  practice  of  agriculture  in  America  tends 
toward  land  ruin,  and  that,  with  our  rapidly  increasing 


324  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

population,  with  continued  depletion  of  our  vast  areas  of 
cultivated  soils,  and  with  no  possibility  of  any  large  ex- 
tension of  well-watered  arable  lands,  we  are  already  facing 
the  serious  problem  of  providing  sufficient  food  for  our 
own  people. 

You  summarize  your  conclusions  along  this  line  in  the 
following  words : 

"  We  have  to  provide  for  a  contingency  not  distant 
from  us  by  nearly  a  generation,  but  already  present.  The 
food  condition  presses  upon  us  now.  The  shortage  has 
begun.  Witness  the  great  fall  in  wheat  exports  and  the 
rise  of  prices.  Obviously  it  is  time  to  quit  speculating 
about  what  may  occur  even  twenty  or  thirty  years  hence, 
and  begin  to  take  thought  for  the  morrow.  As  far  as 
our  food  supply  is  concerned,  right  now  the  lean  years 
have  begun." 

It  is  certain  that  the  time  is  near  when  our  food  sup- 
plies shall  become  inadequate  if  our  present  practices  con- 
tinue, but  the  enforced  reduction  in  animal  products  will 
at  least  postpone  the  time  of  actual  famine  in  America. 
I  keep  in  mind  always  that  we  are  feeding  much  grain  to 
domestic  animals,  an  extremely  wasteful  practice  so  far  as 
economy  of  human  food  is  concerned;  because,  as  an  av- 
erage, animals  return  in  meat  and  milk  not  more  than  one- 
fifth  as  much  food  value  as  they  destroy  in  the  correspond- 
ing grain  consumed;  and,  as  we  gradually  reduce  the 
amounts  of  grain  that  are  fed  to  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine, 
we  shall  also  gradually  increase  our  human  food  supply. 
Ultimately  our  milk-producing  and  meat-producing  ani- 
mals will  be  fed  only  the  grass  grown  upon  the  non-arable 
lands  and  possibly  some  refuse  forage  not  suitable  for 
human  food  or  more  valuable  for  green  manure,  unless  we 
modify  our  present  practice  and  tendency,  which  we  can 
do  if  the  proper  influences  are  exerted  by  the  intelligent 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  325 

people  of  this  country,  and  thus  make  possible  the  con- 
tinuation of  high  standards  of  living  for  all  our  people. 

I  keep  in  mind,  too,  that  much  of  the  food  taken  into 
the  average  American  kitchen  is  wasted,  and  that  prog- 
ress in  the  science  of  feeding  the  man  will  ultimately  pre- 
vent this  waste  and,  by  adding  to  this  better  preparation 
and  combination  of  foods,  will  increase  to  some  extent  the 
nutritive  value  of  our  present  food  supply. 

The  serious  fact  remains,  however,  that  our  older  lands 
are  decreasing  in  productive  power  and,  in  spite  of  what 
may  be  accomplished  by  such  methods  of  conservation,  we 
are  now  facing  a  rapidly  approaching  shortage  of  food 
supplies  for  the  rapidly  increasing  population  of  these 
United  States ;  and  you  have  put  me  and  all  other  Ameri~ 
can  citizens  under  lasting  obligations  to  you  for  your 
frankness,  good  sense,  and  true  patriotism  in  thus  pointing 
out  in  advance  our  great  national  weakness. 

According  to  the  trustworthy  statistics  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Census  the-  total  production  of  all  our 
cereal  crops  increased  by  only  1.7  per  cent,  during  the 
last  decade.  Thus  the  aggregate  production  of  corn, 
wheat,  oats,  barley,  rye,  rice,  buckwheat,  Kafir  corn,  em- 
mer,  and  spelt  was  4439  million  bushels  in  1899  and  4513 
million  bushels  in  1909  ;  whereas  the  acreage  of  farmed  land 
was  increased  by  15.4  per  cent,  during  the  same  ten-year 
period.  Furthermore  our  wheat  exports  have  decreased 
from  thirty-seven  per  cent,  to  seventeen  per  cent,  of  our 
total  production,  and  our  corn  exports  have  decreased 
from  nine  per  cent,  to  three  per  cent,  of  our  total  produc- 
tion;  and  yet  the  average  price  of  wheat,  by  two  five-year 
periods,  has  increased  thirty-one  per  cent.,  and  the  aver- 
age price  of  corn  has  increased  ninety-one  per  cent,  dur- 
ing the  same  decade. 

The  latest  Year  Book  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ture  (1908)  furnishes  the  average  yields  of  wheat  and 
corn  for  four  successive  ten-year  periods,  from  1866  to 
1905.  By  combining  these  into  two  twenty-year  periods 
this  record  of  forty  years  shows  that  the  average  yield 
of  wheat  for  the  United  States  increased  one  bushel  per 
acre,  while  the  average  yield  of  corn  decreased  one  and 
one-half  bushels  per  acre,  according  to  these  two  twenty- 
year  averages. 

If  we  consider  only  the  statistics  for  the  North-Cen- 
tral States,  extending  from  Ohio  to  Kansas  and  from 
"  Egypt "  to  Canada,  the  same  forty-year  record  shows 
the  average  yield  of  wheat  to  have  increased  one-half 
bushel  per  acre,  while  the  average  yield  of  corn  decreased 
two  bushels  per  acre. 

Thus,  notwithstanding  the  great  areas  of  rich  virgin 
soils  brought  under  cultivation  in  the  West  and  North- 
west during  the  last  forty  years,  notwithstanding  the 
abandonment  of  great  areas  of  worn-out  lands  in  the 
East  and  Southeast  during  the  same  years,  notwithstand- 
ing the  enormous  extension  of  dredge  ditching  and  tile 
drainage,  and  notwithstanding  the  marked  improvement 
in  seed  and  in  the  implements  of  cultivation,  the  average 
yield  per  acre  of  the  two  great  grain  crops  of  the  United 
States  has  not  even  been  maintained,  the  decrease  in  corn 
being  greater  than  the  increase  in  wheat,  and  not  only 
for  the  entire  United  Staes,  but  also  for  the  great  new 
states  of  the  corn  belt  and  wheat  belt. 

(Seasonal  variations  are  so  great  that  shorter 
periods  than  twenty-year  averages  cannot  be  considered 
trustworthy  for  yield  per  acre.) 

Meanwhile,  the  total  population  of  the  United  States 
increased  from  thirty-eight  millions  in  1870  to  seventy-six 
millions  in  1900,  or  an  increase  of  one  hundred  per  cent, 
in  thirty  years;  and  the  only  means  by  which  we  have 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  327 

been  able  to  feed  this  increase  in  population  has  been  by 
increasing  our  acreage  of  cultivated  crops  and  by  de- 
creasing our  exportation  of  foodstuffs;  and  I  need  not 
remind  you  that  the  limit  to  our  relief  is  near  in  both  of 
these  directions.  But  have  we  decreased  our  exporta- 
tion of  phosphate?  Oh,  no.  On  the  contrary,  under 
the  soothing  influence  of  the  most  pleasing  and  accept- 
able doctrine  that  our  soil  is  an  indestructible,  immutable 
asset,  which  cannot  be  depleted,  our  exportation  of  rock 
phosphate  has  increased  during  the  years  of  the  present 
century  from  six  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  tons  in 
1900  to  one  million  three  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
tons  in  1908,  an  increase  of  practically  one  hundred  per 
cent.,  in  accordance  with  the  published  reports  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey. 

But  I  am  writing  to  you,  Mr.  Hill,  not  only  to  thank 
you  for  what  you  have  said  and  shown  in  the  twenty- 
eight  pages  above  referred  to,  but  also  in  part  to  repay 
my  obligation  to  you  by  giving  you  some  correct  informa- 
tion, which  I  am  altogether  confident  you  will  appreciate ; 
namely,  that,  while  you  are  a  graduate  student  or  past 
master  in  your  knowledge  of  the  supply  and  demand  of 
the  world's  markets,  you  are  just  entering  the  kindergar- 
ten class  in  the  study  of  soil  fertility,  as  witness  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  the  one  erroneous  page  of  your  ar- 
ticle : 

"  Right  methods  of  farming,  without  which  no  agri- 
cultural country  such  as  this  can  hope  to  remain  pros- 
perous, or  even  to  escape  eventual  poverty,  are  not  com- 
plicated and  are  within  the  reach  of  the  most  modest 
means.  They  include  a  study  of  soils  and  seeds,  so  as 
to  adapt  the  one  to  the  other;  a  diversification  of  indus- 
try, including  the  cultivation  of  different  crops  and  the 
raising  of  live  stock ;  a  careful  rotation  of  crops,  so  that 


828  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

the  land  will  not  be  worn  out  by  successive  years  of  single 
cropping;  intelligent  fertilizing,  by  the  system  of  rota- 
tion, by  cultivating  leguminous  plants,  and,  above  all, 
by  the  economy  and  use  of  every  particle  of  fertilizing 
material  from  stock  barns  and  yards;  a  careful  selection 
of  grain  used  for  seed;  and,  first  of  all,  perhaps,  in  im- 
portance, the  substitution  of  the  small  farm,  thoroughly 
tilled,  for  the  large  farm,  with  its  weeds,  its  neglected 
corners,  its  abused  soil  and  its  thin  product.  This  will 
make  room  for  the  new  population  whose  added  product 
will  help  to  restore  our  place  as  an  exporter  of  foodstuffs. 
Let  us  set  these  simple  principles  of  the  new  method  out 
again  in  order: 

"  First  —  The  farmer  must  cultivate  no  more  land 
than  he  can  till  thoroughly.  With  less  labor  he  will 
get  more  results.  Official  statistics  show  that  the  net 
profit  from  one  crop  of  twenty  bushels  of  wheat  to  the 
acre  is  as  great  as  that  from  two  of  sixteen,  after  orig- 
inal cost  of  production  has  been  paid. 

"  Second  —  There  must  be  rotation  of  crops.  Ten 
years  of  single  cropping  will  pretty  nearly  wear  out  any 
but  the  richest  soil.  A  proper  three  or  five-year  rota- 
tion of  crops  actually  enriches  the  land. 

"  Third —  There  must  be  soil  renovation  by  fertiliz- 
ing ;  and  the  best  fertilizer  is  that  provided  by  nature  her- 
self—  barnyard  manure.  Every  farmer  can  and  should 
keep  some  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  on  his  place.  The 
farmer  and  his  land  cannot  prosper  until  stock-raising 
becomes  an  inseparable  part  of  agriculture.  Of  all  for- 
age fed  to  live  stock  at  least  one-third  in  cash  value  re- 
mains on  the  land  in  the  form  of  manure  that  soon  re- 
stores worn-out  soil  to  fertility  and  keeps  good  land 
from  deteriorating.  By  this  system  the  farm  may  be 
made  and  kept  a  source  of  perpetual  wealth," 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  329 

Your  first  principle  will  be  agreed  to  and  emphasized 
by  all ;  but  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  large  farms 
are  frequently  better  tilled  than  the  small  farms.  The 
$200  land  in  the  corn  belt  is  usually  "  worked  for  all  that's 
in  it."  It  is  tile-drained  and  well  cultivated  and  the  best 
of  seed  is  used.  If  more  thorough  tillage  would  increase 
the  profits,  these  corn-belt  farmers  would  certainly  prac- 
tice it. 

It  ought  to  be  known  (1)  that  as  an  average  of  six 
years  the  Illinois  Experiment  Station  produced  seventy 
and  three-tenths  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  with  the  ordi- 
nary four  cultivations,  and  only  seventy-two  and  eight- 
tenths  bushels  with  additional  cultivation  even  up  to  eight 
times ;  and  (2)  that  the  average  yield  of  corn  in  India  on 
irrigated  land  varies  from  seven  bushels  in  poor  years  to 
twelve  bushels  in  good  seasons,  and  this  is  where  the  aver- 
age farm  is  about  three  acres  in  size. 

One  Illinois  farmer  with  a  four-horse  team  raises  more 
corn  than  ten  Georgia  farmers  with  a  mule  apiece  on  the 
same  total  acreage.  Fertile  soil  and  competent  labor  are 
the  great  essentials  in  crop  production.  A  mere  increase 
in  country  population  does  not  increase  the  productive 
power  of  the  soil.  The  farms  down  here  in  "  Egypt " 
average  much  smaller  than  those  in  the  corn  belt  of  Illi- 
nois, but  our  "  Egyptian  "  farms  are  nevertheless  poorly 
tilled  as  a  rule  and  some  of  them  are  already  becoming 
abandoned  for  agricultural  purposes. 

Certainly  the  land  should  always  be  well  tilled,  but  til- 
lage makes  the  soil  poorer,  not  richer.  Tillage  liberates 
plant  food  but  adds  none.  "  A  little  farm  well  tilled  "  is 
all  right  if  well  manured,  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  men  who  consider  "  Ten  Acres  Enough "  are 
market  gardeners,  or  truck  farmers,  who  are  not  satisfied 
until  in  the  course  of  six  or  eight  years  they  have  applied 


880  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

to  their  land  about  two  hundred  tons  of  manure  per  acre, 
all  made  from  crops  grown  on  other  lands. 

All  the  manure  produced  in  all  the  states  would  provide 
only  thirty  tons  per  acre  for  the  farm  lands  of  Illinois. 
In  round  numbers  there  are  eighty  million  cattle  and 
horses  in  the  United  States,  and  our  annual  corn  crop  is 
harvested  from  one  hundred  million  acres.  All  the  ma- 
nure produced  by  all  domestic  animals  would  barely  ferti- 
lize the  corn  lands  with  ten  tons  per  acre  if  none  whatever 
were  lost  or  wasted ;  and,  if  all  farm  animals  were  figured 
on  the  basis  of  cattle,  there  is  only  one  head  for  each  ten 
acres  of  farm  land  in  the  United  States. 

Your  second  principle  is,  that  "  a  proper  three  or  five- 
year  rotation  of  crops  actually  enriches  the  land." 

I  hope  the  God  of  truth  and  a  long-suffering,  misguided 
people  will  forgive  you  for  that  false  teaching.  If  there 
is  any  one  practice  the  value  of  which  is  fully  under- 
stood by  the  farmers  and  landowners  in  the  Eastern 
States  and  in  all  old  agricultural  countries,  it  is  the  prac- 
tice of  crop  rotation.  Indeed,  the  rotation  of  crops  is 
much  more  common  and  much  better  understood  and  much 
more  fully  appreciated  in  the  East  than  it  is  in  the  corn 
belt.  Practically  all  we  know  of  crop  rotation  we  have 
learned  from  the  East.  Every  old  depleted  agricultural 
country  has  worn  out  the  soil  by  good  systems  of  crop 
rotation.  I  once  took  a  legal  option  of  an  "  abandoned  " 
farm  in  Maryland  (beautiful  location,  two  miles  from  a 
railroad  station,  gently  undulating  upland  loam,  at  $10 
per  acre)  that  had  been  worn  out  under  a  four-year  ro- 
tation of  corn,  wheat,  meadow  and  pasture.  A  few  acres 
of  tobacco  were  usually  grown  in  one  corner  of  the  corn 
field,  and  clover  and  timothy  were  regularly  used  for 
meadow  and  pasture.  Wheat,  tobacco  and  live  stock  were 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  331 

sold,  and  manure  was  applied  for  tobacco  and  so  far  as 
possible  for  corn  also.  In  the  later  years  of  the  system 
the  ordinary  commercial  fertilizer  was  also  applied  for 
the  wheat  at  the  usual  rate  of  two  hundred  pounds  per 
acre,  this  having  become  a  "  necessity  "  toward  the  end  of 
this  slow  but  sure  system  of  land  ruin. 

The  "  simple  principles  "  of  your  "  new  method  "  were 
understood  and  practiced  in  Roman  agriculture  two  thou- 
sand years  ago ;  and  they  included  not  only  thorough  till- 
age, careful  seed  selection,  regular  crop  rotation,  and  the 
use  of  farm  manure,  but  also  the  use  of  green  manures. 
Thus  Cato  wrote: 

"  Take  care  to  have  your  wheat  weeded  twice  —  with 
the  hoe,  and  also  by  hand." 

And  again  Cato  wrote : 

"Wherein  does  a  good  system  of  agriculture  consist? 
In  the  first  place,  in  thorough  plowing;  in  the  second 
place,  in  thorough  plowing;  and,  in  the  third  place,  in 
manuring." 

Varro,  who  lived  at  the  same  time  as  Cato,  wrote  as 
follows : 

"  The  land  must  rest  every  second  year,  or  be  sown 
with  lighter  kinds  of  seeds,  which  prove  less  exhausting  to 
the  soil.  A  field  is  not  sown  entirely  for  the  crop  which 
is  to  be  obtained  the  same  year,  but  partly  for  the  effect 
to  be  produced  in  the  following;  because  there  are  many 
plants  which,  when  cut  down  and  left  on  the  land,  improve 
the  soil.  Thus  lupines,  for  instance,  are  plowed  into  a 
poor  soil  in  lieu  of  manure.  Horse  manure  is  about  the 
best  suited  for  meadow  land,  and  so  in  general  is  that  of 
beasts  of  burden  fed  on  barley;  for  manure  made  from 
this  cereal  makes  the  grass  grow  luxuriantly." 

Virgil  wrote  in  his  Georgics: 


332  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

"  Still  will  the  seeds,  tho  chosen  with  toilsome  pains, 

Degenerate,  if  man's  industrious  hand 

Cull  not  each  year  the  largest  and  the  best." 

It  was  in  1859  that  Baron  von  Liebig  wrote  as  follows, 
regarding  these  and  similar  ancient  teachings : 

"  All  these  rules  had,  as  history  tells  us,  only  a  tempo- 
rary effect;  they  hastened  the  decay  of  Roman  agricul- 
ture; and  the  farmer  ultimately  found  that  he  had  ex- 
hausted all  his  expedients  to  keep  his  fields  fruitful  and 
reap  remunerative  crops  from  them.  Even  in  Columella's 
time,  the  produce  of  the  land  was  only  fourfold.  It  is  not 
the  land  itself  that  constitutes  the  farmer's  wealth,  but  it 
is  in  the  constituents  of  the  soil,  which  serve  for  the  nu- 
trition of  plants,  that  this  wealth  truly  consists." 

Suppose,  Mr.  Hill,  that  a  successful  American  farmer 
should  tell  you  that  your  bank  account  will  actually  in- 
crease if  you  will  give  from  three  to  five  members  of  your 
family  the  privilege  of  writing  checks  instead  of  following 
the  single  checking  system !  "  But,"  you  will  ask,  "  doesn't 
rotation  produce  a  larger  aggregate  yield  of  crops  than 
the  single  crop  system  ?  "  Certainly,  and,  likewise,  a  ro- 
tation of  the  check  book  will  produce  a  larger  aggregate 
of  the  checks  written ;  but  the  ultimate  effect  on  the  bank 
deposit  is  the  same  as  on  the  natural  deposit  of  plant  food 
in  the  soil,  and  finally  the  checks  will  not  be  honored.  In- 
deed, it  would  be  a  fine  sort  of  perpetual  motion  if  we 
could  actually  enrich  the  soil  by  the  simple  rotation  of 
crops,  and  thus  make  something  out  of  nothing. 

Consider,  for  example,  the  common  three-year  rotation, 
corn,  wheat,  and  clover.  A  fifty-bushel  crop  of  corn  re- 
moves twelve  pounds  of  phosphorus  from  the  soil;  the 
twenty-five-bushel  wheat  crop  draws  out  eight  pounds ;  and 
then  the  two-ton  crop  of  clover  withdraws  ten  pounds,  mak- 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  333 

ing  thirty  pounds  required  for  this  simple  rotation.  The 
most  common  type  of  land  in  St.  Mary  county,  Maryland, 
after  two  hundred  years  of  farming,  contains  phosphorus 
enough  in  the  soil  for  five  rotations  of  this  simple  sort. 
Mathematically  that  is  all  the  further  traffic  in  rotations 
that  soil  can  bear.  Agriculturally  that  soil  has  refused 
to  bear  any  sort  of  traffic,  whether  single  or  in  rotations, 
and  has  been  abandoned  for  farm  use  except  where  ferti- 
lized. 

These  crops  would  remove  from  the  soil  one  hundred  and 
twenty-three  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  the  corn  and  wheat, 
and  the  roots  and  stubble  of  the  clover  would  contain  forty 
pounds  of  nitrogen.  Now,  if  the  soil  furnishes  seventy- 
five  pounds  of  nitrogen  to  the  corn  crop  and  forty-eight 
pounds  to  the  wheat  crop,  will  it  furnish  forty  pounds  to 
the  clover  crop,  or  as  much  as  remains  in  the  roots  and 
stubble?  If  so,  how  does  the  rotation  actually  enrich  the 
soil  even  in  nitrogen? 

You  will  be  interested  to  know  that  there  are  many  ex- 
act records  of  the  effect  upon  the  soil  of  the  rotation  of 
crops.  This  particular  three-year  rotation  has  been  fol- 
lowed at  the  Ohio  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  for 
thirteen  years,  and  the  average  yield  of  wheat  has  been, 
not  twenty  bushels,  not  sixteen  bushels,  but  eleven  bushels 
per  acre,  where  no  plant  food  was  applied ;  although  where 
farm  manure  was  used  the  wheat  yielded  twenty  bushels, 
and  with  manure  and  fine-ground  natural  rock  phosphate 
added  the  average  yield  of  wheat  for  the  thirteen  years 
has  been  more  than  twenty-six  bushels  per  acre.  The  cor- 
responding yields  for  corn  are  thirty-two,  fifty-three  and 
sixty-one  bushels,  and  for  clover  they  are  one  and  two- 
tenths,  one  and  six-tenths  and  two  and  two-tenths  tons  of 
hay  per  acre. 

You  wish  to  know  also  that  the  Ohio  Station  has  con- 


834  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

ducted  a  five-year  rotation  of  corn,  oats,  wheat,  clover, 
and  timothy  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  both  with  and  with- 
out the  application  of  commercial  plant  food.  As  an 
average  of  the  fifteen  years  the  unfertilized  and  fertilized 
tracts  have  produced,  respectively : 

30  and    48  bushels  of  corn 
32  and    50  bushels  of  oats 
11  and    27  bushels  of  wheat 
.9  and  1.6  tons  of  clover 
1.3  and  1.8  tons  of  timothy 

In  1908  the  unfertilized  land  produced  nine-tenths  ton 
of  clover,  while  land  treated  with  farm  manure  produced 
three  and  two-tenths  tons  per  acre. 

You  will  welcome  the  information  that  the  average  yield 
of  wheat  on  an  Illinois  experiment  field  down  here  in 
"  Egypt,"  in  a  four-year  rotation,  including  both  cowpeas 
and  clover,  has  been  eleven  and  one-half  bushels  on  un- 
fertilized land,  fourteen  bushels  where  legume  crops  have 
been  plowed  under,  and  twenty-seven  bushels  where  lime- 
stone and  phosphorus  have  been  added  with  the  legume 
crops  turned  under ;  and  that  the  aggregate  value  of  the 
four  crops,  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  clover,  from  another 
"  Egyptian  "  farm,  has  been  $25.97  per  acre  on  unferti- 
lized land,  and  $54.24  where  limestone  and  phosphorus 
have  been  applied. 

In  your  very  busy  and  very  successful  railroad  experi- 
ence, you  may  have  overlooked  the  reports  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  showing  the  re- 
sults of  a  four-year  rotation  of  crops  that  has  been  con- 
ducted with  very  great  care  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  These,  you  will  agree,  are  exactly  such  absolute 
data  as  we  sorely  need  just  now  when  facing  the  stupen- 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  335 

dous  problem  of  changing  from  an  agricultural  system 
whose  equal  has  never  been  known  for  rapidity  of  soil  ex- 
haustion to  a  system  which  shall  actually  enrich  the  land. 
By  averaging  the  results  from  the  first  twelve  years  and 
also  those  from  the  second  twelve  years,  in  this  rotation 
of  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  hay  (clover  and  timothy),  we  find 
that  the  yields  have  decreased  as  follows: 

Corn  decreased 3-1'  per  cent. 

Oats  decreased 31  per  cent. 

Wheat  decreased 4  per  cent. 

Hay  decreased 29  per  cent. 

Appalling,  is  it  not?  It  is  the  best  information  America 
affords  in  answer  to  the  question,  Will  the  rotation  of 
crops  actually  enrich  the  land? 

No,  Sir.  We  cannot  make  crops  nor  bank  accounts 
out  of  nothing.  The  rotation  of  crops  does  not  enrich 
the  soil,  does  not  even  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
On  the  contrary,  the  rotation  of  crops,  like  the  rotation 
of  your  check  book,  actually  depletes  the  soil  more  rap- 
idly than  the  single  system;  and,  if  you  ever  have  your 
choice  between  two  farms  of  equal  original  fertility,  one 
of  which  has  been  cropped  with  wheat  only,  and  the  other 
with  a  good  three  or  five-year  rotation,  for  fifty  years, 
take  my  advice  and  choose  the  "  worn-out "  wheat  farm. 
Then  adopt  a  good  system  of  cropping  with  a  moderate 
use  of  clover,  and  you  will  soon  discover  that  your  land 
is  not  worn  out,  but  "  almos'  new  Ian',"  as  a  good  Swede 
friend  of  mine  reported  who  made  a  similar  choice.  But 
beware  of  the  land  that  has  been  truly  worn  out  under  a 
good  rotation,  which  avoids  the  insects  and  diseases  of  the 
single  crop  system  and  also  furnishes  regularly  a  moderate 
amount  of  clover  roots  which  decay  very  rapidly  and  thus 


336  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

stimulate  the  decomposition  of  the  old  humus  and  the  liber- 
ation of  mineral  plant  food  from  the  soil. 

Perhaps  you  have  heard  of  Rothamsted.  If  not,  your 
kindergarten  teacher  is  at  fault.  A  four-year  rotation 
of  crops  has  been  followed  on  Agdell  field  for  more  than 
sixty  years.  An  average  of  the  crop  yields  of  the  last 
twenty  years  reveals: 

(1)  That  the  yield  of  turnips  has  decreased  from  ten 
tons  to  one-half  ton  per  acre  since  1848. 

(2)  That  the  yield  of  barley  has  decreased  from  forty- 
six  bushels  to  fourteen  bushels  since  1849. 

(3)  That  the  yield  of  clover  has  decreased  from  two 
and  eight-tenths  tons  to  one-half  ton  since  1850. 

(4)  That  the  yield  of  wheat  has  decreased  from  thirty 
bushels  to  twenty-four  bushels  since  1851,  wheat,  grown 
once  in  four  years,  being  the  only  crop  worth  raising  as 
an  average  of  the  last  twenty  years. 

No,  Sir.  Neither  optimism,  nor  ignorance,  nor  bigotry, 
nor  deception  can  controvert  these  facts. 

Do  you  know  that  the  people  of  India  rotate  their  crops  ? 
They  do;  and  they  use  many  legumes;  and  some  of  their 
soils  now  contain  only  a  trace  of  phosphorus,  too  small 
to  be  determined  in  figures  by  the  chemist.  Do  you  know 
there  are  more  of  our  own  Aryan  Race  hungry  in  India 
than  live  in  the  United  States? 

Do  you  know  that  Russia  regularly  practices  a  three- 
year  rotation  and  actually  harvests  only  two  crops  in 
three  years,  with  one  year  of  green  manuring?  Yes,  and 
the  average  yield  of  wheat  for  twenty  years  is  only  eight 
and  one-quarter  bushels  per  acre. 

Think  on  these  things. 

Your  third  principle  is,  that  "  of  all  forage  fed  to  live 
stock  at  least  one-third  in  cash  value  remains  on  the  land 
in  the  form  of  manure  that  soon  restores  worn-out  soil  to 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  337 

fertility  and  keeps  good  land  from  deteriorating.  By  this 
system  the  farm  may  be  made  and  kept  a  source  of  per- 
petual wealth." 

I  grieve  with  you;  pity  'tis,  'tis  not  true. 

No,  Sir.  Neither  crops  nor  animals  can  be  made  out  of 
nothing,  and  no  independent  system  of  live-stock  farming 
can  add  to  the  soil  a  pound  of  any  element  of  plant  food, 
aside  from  nitrogen,  and  even  this  addition  is  due  to  the 
legume  crops  grown  and  not  to  the  live  stock. 

Under  the  best  system  of  live-stock  farming  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  nitrogen,  three-fourths  of  the  phosphorus, 
and  one-third  of  the  organic  matter  contained  in  the  food 
consumed  can  be  returned  to  the  land  if  the  total  excre- 
ments, both  solid  and  liquid,  are  saved  without  loss.  Of 
course,  the  produce  used  for  bedding  can  all  be  returned, 
but  it  could  also  be  returned  without  live  stock. 

Under  a  good  system  of  crop  rotation  with  all  grain  sold 
from  the  farm  it  is  possible  to  return  to  the  soil  more  than 
one-third  of  the  phosphorus  and  more  than  one-half  of  the 
organic  matter  Contained  in  the  crops,  and  even  as  much 
nitrogen  as  all  of  the  crops  remove  from  the  land  in  the 
grain  sold.  Thus,  with  a  four-year  rotation  of  wheat,  corn, 
oats,  and  clover,  and  a  cover  crop  of  clover  grown  with 
the  wheat  and  turned  under  late  the  following  spring  for 
corn,  we  may  plow  under  three  tons  of  clover  containing 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of  nitrogen,  in  return  for 
the  one  hundred  and  nineteen  pounds  removed  from  the 
soil  for  the  twenty-five  bushels  of  wheat,  fifty  bushels  of 
corn,  and  fifty  bushels  of  oats.  These  amounts  of  grain 
and  the  two  bushels  of  clover  seed  might  be  sold  from  the 
farm,  while  the  two  and  one-half  tons  of  straw,  one  and 
one-half  tons  of  stalks,  and  three  tons  of  clover  might  be 
returned  to  the  land.  These  amounts  aggregate  seven 
tons  of  organic  matter,  or  the  equivalent  of  seventeen  tons 


638  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

of  manure,  measured  by  the  nitrogen  content,  or  of  twenty- 
four  tons,  measured  by  the  content  of  organic  matter. 
To  replace  the  twenty-two  pounds  of  phosphorus  sold 
from  the  farm  in  the  grain  of  these  four  crops  would  re- 
quire the  expenditure  of  sixty-six  cents  at  the  present 
prices  for  raw  phosphate  delivered  at  Heart-of-Egypt. 

I  have  no  doubt  you  will  be  glad  to  have  your  attention 
called  to  the  fact  that  the  world  does  not  live  wholly,  or 
even  largely,  upon  meat  and  milk.  Bread  is  the  staff  of 
life,  and  I  note  from  your  World's  Work  article  that  you 
prefer  to  have  the  bread  made  of  wheat.  Thus,  most 
farmers  must  raise  and  sell  grain  and  vegetables. 

If  no  independent  system  of  live-stock  farming  can  add 
a  pound  of  phosphorus  to  the  one  hundred  and  sixty 
pounds  still  remaining  in  the  great  body  of  the  level  up- 
lands constituting  forty-one  per  cent,  of  St.  Mary  county, 
and  forty-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  acres 
of  Prince  George  county,  Maryland,  adjoining  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  nor  even  maintain  the  phosphorus  sup- 
ply in  our  good  lands,  then  what  must  we  do  to  be  fed? 

Manifestly,  we  should  make  large  use  of  legume  crops 
for  the  production  of  farm  manure  or  green  manure ;  and, 
manifestly,  America  should  stop  selling  every  year  for  five 
million  dollars  enough  raw  phosphate  for  the  production 
of  more  than  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of  wheat.  How  long 
can  we  afford  to  give  away  a  thousand  millions  for  five 
millions  ? 

Men  of  influence  often  urge  that  we  adopt  the  Chinese 
method  of  returning  all  human  waste  directly  to  the  land ; 
but,  with  an  inexhaustible  source  of  nitrogen,  with  calcium 
and  magnesium  in  measureless  limestone  deposits,  and  with 
abundant  supplies  of  potassium  in  all  normal  soils,  our  in- 
comparable national  blunder  is  not  only  the  failure  to  use 
our  deposits  of  phosphate,  but  the  giving  away  of  this 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  339 

great  natural  birthright,  which  is  needed  to  double  and 
treble  our  own  crop  yields.  For  two  cents  we  are  selling 
abroad  as  much  phosphorus  as  is  contained  in  the  total 
waste  of  an  average  individual  for  a  year,  and  the  total 
excrements  per  annum  from  three  hundred  million  people 
would  contain  no  more  phosphorus  than  we  export  for  five 
million  dollars. 

With  deep  respect,  I  am, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

PERCY  JOHNSTON. 


Addendum. 

DISCOVERS  A  WAY  TO  DOUBLE  CROPS 

Jas.  J.  Hill  Conducts  Experiment  That  May  Revolutionize 

Farming. 

WILL   AID    ALL    GRAINS 

St.  Paul,  Minn.,  Jan.  2 — In  the  rear  of  his  Summit 
avenue  residence  James  J.  Hill,  the  railroad  magnate, 
without  any  one's  knowledge  has  been  carrying  on  for  the 
last  two  months  an  experiment  expected  to  revolutionize 
agriculture.  Six  men  representing  commercial  and  finan- 
cial Minneapolis  were  his  guests  to-day  to  witness  astonish- 
ing results  in  wheat,  oats,  and  barley  culture  achieved 
by  new  chemical  soil  analysis  and  its  practical  application. 

Phosphorus  has  been  found  to  be  the  great  essential 
plant  food  lacking  in  the  soil  of  the  Northwest.  Mr.  Hill 
has  found  the  way,  he  told  the  Minneapolis  men,  to  in- 
crease soil  fertility. 

"  I  believe,"  Mr.  Hill  said,  "  that  we  have  found  what 
to  do,  and  we  are  going  to  do  it.  We  can  by  the  applica- 
tion of  these  methods  increase  the  production  of  grain  in 
the  northwestern  states  to  twice  the  quantity  given  in  the 
figures  of  the  department  of  agriculture  for  1912,  and 
this  is  true  also  of  North  Dakota." — Press  Dispatch. 


CHAPTER   XLII 

ADVANCE  INFORMATION 

HEART-OF-EGYPT,  November  14,  1909. 

DEAR  Father  and  Mother:  I  can  scarcely  realize 
that  I  have  been  an  "  Egyptian  "  for  almost  two 
years.  I  feel  that  the  time  has  been  shorter  than 
two  months  of  school-teaching. 

Percy  is  so  encouraged  with  the  crops  that  I  rejoice 
with  him,  although  I  could  never  weep  with  him  unless  I 
weep  for  joy.  He  says  the  crops  needed  only  that  I 
should  stroll  over  the  fields  with  him;  that  they  would 
grow  rapidly  if  I  only  looked  at  them.  Think  of  it  —  I 
drove  the  mower  to  cut  hay, —  not  all  of  the  80  acres,  to 
be  sure,  but  I  cut  where  it  yielded  two  tons  per  acre. 
That  is  on  No.  4,  where  Percy  applied  his  first  cars  of 
limestone.  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  untreated  strips 
—  no  clover  and  only  half  a  ton  of  weedy  grass,  while 
the  rest  of  No.  4  and  No.  6  was  clean  hay  of  mixed  alsike 
and  timothy.  Percy  says'  that  No.  4  produced  as  much 
real  hay  last  year  as  all  the  rest  of  the  farm  has  produced 
since  he  came,  and  that  the  hay  crop  this  year  is  worth  as 
much  for  feed  as  all  that  has  been  harvested  during  the 
previous  years;  and  the  cattle  and  horses  seem  to  agree 
with  him. 

We  sold  our  main  lot  of  hogs  for  $654,  and  have  an- 
other lot  to  go  later.  We  are  getting  so  many  horses  and 
cattle  on  the  place,  that  we  are  going  out  of  the  hog  busi- 
ness. 

Percy  says  that  hogs  belong  more  properly  in  the  corn 

840 


' 


ADVANCE  INFORMATION  341 

belt,  than  in  the  wheat  and  fruit  belt.  You  know  the  year 
I  came  the  corn  crop  was  on  No.  1,  which  had  never  grown 
anything  but  corn,  oats,  and  wheat,  so  far  as  we  can  learn ; 
and  the  corn  was  so  poor  the  hogs  ate  most  of  it  in  two 
months'  time.  During  the  same  two  months  the  price  of 
hogs  dropped  from  7  to  4|  cents,  so  that  the  hogs  were 
worth  no  more  after  eating  the  corn  than  they  were  before. 

Next  year  we  are  to  have  corn  on  No.  4,  and  Percy  says 
it  will  be  the  first  time  that  corn  has  had  a  "  ghost  of  a 
show  to  make  a  decent  crop  "  since  he  bought  the  place. 
The  spring  before  we  were  married  he  reseeded  that  forty, 
sowing  mixed  alsike  and  timothy.  The  clover  came  on 
finely,  evidently  because  the  scanty  growth  of  clover  the 
year  before  had  at  least  allowed  the  field  to  become  thor- 
oughly infected  with  the  clover  bacteria.  There  was  no 
clover  on  the  unlimed  strip.  So  we  say  that  limestone  and 
bacteria  brought  clover.  The  hay  and  other  feed  has 
made  manure  enough  so  that  No.  4  has  been  completely 
covered  with  six  tons  per  acre,  and  the  phosphate  has  also 
been  applied;  so  with  manure  and  phosphate  on  clover 
ground  we  hope  to  grow  corn  next  year,  if  we  have  good 
weather. 

The  phosphate  has  also  been  put  on  some  of  the  other 
forties.  I  convinced  him  that  the  money  will  pay  a  higher 
rate  of  interest  in  phosphate  than  it  would  in  the  savings 
bank,  even  if  he  put  it  on  before  manure  and  clover  could 
be  plowed  under.  The  experiments  of  several  states  show 
this  very  conclusively. 

The  corn  is  on  No.  3  this  year  and  it  is  the  best  crop  in 
the  six  years.  Percy  says  the  "  Terry  Act  "  (which  means 
lots  of  work  in  preparing  the  land)  is  some  help,  but  he 
thinks  the  phosphate  shows  against  the  check  strips.  The 
young  wheat  on  No.  2  is  looking  fine,  and  with  both  lime- 
stone and  phosphate  on  that  field  and  the  extra  work  on 


342  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

the  seed  bed,  we  hope  for  a  better  crop  than  we  have  ever 
grown  on  a  full  forty ;  even  though  we  must  depend  solely 
upon  our  reserve  stock  of  nitrogen  for  the  crop.  We  are 
all  about  as  jealous  of  that  reserve  stock  of  organic  mat- 
ter and  nitrogen  as  we  are  of  the  Winterbine  bank  account. 

I  cannot  forget  how  Percy  tried  to  persuade  me  to  post- 
pone our  wedding  for  a  year  because,  as  he  said,  the  hogs 
had  taken  his  corn  crop  and  given  nothing  in  return  for 
it;  and  above  all  how  he  objected  to  my  reimbursing  the 
Winterbine  reserve  from  my  teacher's  wages  to  the  extent 
of  $250,  which  he  had  drawn  in  part  to  tide  over  the  hard 
times,  and  in  part  to  come  to  see  me  that  Easter.  But  I 
am  glad  to  have  him  still  insist  upon  it  that  that  uncertain 
venture  proved  his  best  investment,  even  if  he  does  tease 
by  adding  that  it  paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent,  net 
profit  at  Winterbine. 

We  are  selling  some  cows  this  fall, —  trying  to  weed  out 
our  herd  by  the  Babcock  test  which  shows  that  "  some  cows 
don't  pay  their  board  and  keep,"  to  quote  Governor 
Hoard's  lecture  on  "  Cow  versus  Cows,"  which  Percy  heard 
at  Olney  the  winter  Professor  Barstow  was  married.  The 
"  versus  cows  "  are  worth  only  $45. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  I  have  enjoyed  the  summer.  Sir 
Charles  Henry  is  the  dearest  child,  and  his  grandmother 
insists  upon  it  that  it  is  better  for  me  to  help  Percy  in  the 
field  with  such  light  work  as  I  can  do,  and  I  am  out  for  a 
few  hours  every  day  when  the  weather  is  good.  Percy's 
mother  is  such  a  dear.  I  am  sure  she  could  be  no  more 
sweet  and  loving  to  an  own  daughter.  She  had  Percy  all 
to  herself  for  so  long  that  I  was  really  afraid  she  might 
not  like  to  share  him  with  me,  but  Percy  says  that  it  was 
his  mother  who  persuaded  him  to  make  us  that  Easter 
visit.  We  tell  her  that  she  hasn't  much  use  for  either  of 


555 


ADVANCE  INFORMATION  343 

us  now,  and  that  we  are  likely  to  get  jealous  because 
Charles  Henry  gets  so  much  of  her  affection. 

I  forgot  to  tell  you  of  Percy's  four-acre  patch  of  wheat. 
He  said  it  is  so  long  to  wait  till  1912  for  his  first  wheat 
crop  on  land  that  had  grown  clover  at  least  once  during 
historic  times  that  he  thought  he  would  fix  up  a  little  patch 
to  grow  a  crop  of  wheat,  just  to  see  how  real  wheat  would 
look ;  or,  as  he  sometimes  says,  to  see  how  wheat  grows  in 
"  Egypt "  when  it  has  a  ghost  of  a  chance. 

He  treated  a  four-acre  patch  down  by  the  wood's  pas- 
ture with  limestone,  phosphorus,  and  farm  manure,  did  the 
"  Terry  Act "  in  preparing  the  seed  bed,  and  drilled  in  a 
good  variety  of  wheat,  on  October  17, —  a  little  later  than 
he  likes  to  finish  sowing  wheat.  It  came  up  with  a  good 
stand  but  did  not  make  very  much  fall  growth,  partly  ow- 
ing to  the  dry  weather.  In  the  spring  the  man  came 
across  the  patch  and  reported  to  Percy  that  the  wheat  was 
mighty  small  and  he  guessed  it  was  "  gone  up,"  although 
it  seemed  to  be  all  alive.  Percy  said  that  he  would  not 
worry  about  it  if  it  were  alive  because  the  wheat  would 
find  something  to  please  it  when  it  really  woke  up  in  the 
spring.  I  reckon  it  did,  for  a  neighbor  passed  on  his  way 
to  town  in  early  May  and  called  over  the  fence  to  Percy 
that  his  patch  of  rye  down  by  the  woods  was  looking  fine. 
Well  the  four  acres  yielded  129f  bushels,  or  a  little  more 
than  thirty-two  bushels  per  acre.  Percy  said  if  he  could 
have  eighty  acres  of  it  and  sell  it  for  $1.18  a  bushel,  the 
same  as  he  got  for  the  last  he  sold,  it  would  amount  to 
twice  the  original  cost  of  trie  land  —  and  then  some. 

Mr.  Barton  asked  him  if  he  could  not  raise  "  just  as 
good  crops  with  good  old  farm  manure,"  and  if  he  could 
not  build  up  his  whole  farm  with  farm  manure.  Percy 
said  yes,  but  he  would  need  three  thousand  tons  for  the 


344  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

first  application.  Mr.  Barton  then  suggested  that  that 
was  more  than  the  whole  township  produced. 

No.  5  has  been  in  pasture  for  three  years,  clover  and 
grass  having  been  seeded  in  1906,  even  though  the  wet 
weather  had  prevented  the  seeding  of  wheat  the  fall  be- 
fore, and  the  ground  was  left  too  rough  for  the  mower. 
Percy  hopes  to  have  that  forty  completely  covered  with 
manure  by  the  time  he  will  be  ready  to  apply  the  phos- 
phate and  plow  it  under  for  the  1911  corn  crop. 

Now  your  "  Egyptian  "  son  has  just  read  over  this 
long,  long  letter,  and  he  says  that  if  I  were  a  real  wise 
old  farmer  I  would  not  begin  to  talk  about  results  be- 
fore a  single  forty  acres  of  grain  had  had  a  ghost  of  a 
chance  to  make  a  crop.  He  says  that  every  bushel  of 
corn,  oats  and  wheat  that  this  old  farm  has  produced 
during  the  last  six  years  has  been  wholly  at  the  expense 
of  the  meager  stock  of  reserve  nitrogen  still  left  in  the 
soil  after  seventy-five  years  of  almost  continuous  effort 
to  "  work  the  land  for  all  that's  in  it."  He  says  that  we 
have  no  right  to  expect  really  good  crops  until  after  the 
second  rotation  is  completed,  because  the  clover  grown 
during  the  first  rotation  does  not  have  a  fair  show,  the 
limestone  not  yet  being  well  mixed  with  the  soil,  the  phos- 
phorus supply  being  inadequate,  the  inoculation  or  in- 
fection being  imperfect,  and  no  provision  whatever  having 
been  made  to  supply  decaying  organic  matter  in  advance 
of  the  first  clover  crop.  I  think  he  is  right,  as  usual, 
and  I  promise  to  give  no  more  advance  information  here- 
after except  upon  inquiry,  at  least  not  until  1918,  when 
the  first  wheat  crop  will  be  grown  on  land  which  has  been 
twice  in  clover. 

We  are  mighty  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  be  with  you 
for  Thanksgiving  or  Christmas,  but  really  we  cannot 
go  to  the  expense;  our  house  is  so  small  (we  just  must 


ADVANCE  INFORMATION  345 

build  a  larger  barn),  and  our  home  equipment  is  so  mea- 
ger that,  in  the  words  which  you  will  remember  Percy 
told  us  his  mother  credited  to  Mrs.  Barton,  I  feel  that  as 
yet  I  must  say, 

"  Do  come  over  when  you  can." 

Your  happy,  loving  daughter, 

ADELAIDE. 

P.  S.  —  Three  big  oil  wells,  belonging  to  the  class 
called  "  gushers,"  have  been  struck  about  seven  or  eight 
miles  from  Poorland  Farm.  We  are  all  getting  inter- 
ested except  Percy.  He  says  he  does  not  want  any  oil 
wells  on  his  six  rotation  forties  or  in  the  wood's  pasture, 
but  he  might  let  them  bore  in  the  twelve-acre  orchard, 
which  has  never  produced  but  one  crop  that  paid  for  it- 
self, and  the  profit  from  that  is  about  all  gone  for  the 
later  years  of  spraying. 

The  first  oil  boom  in  Illinois  was  at  Casey,  where  they 
struck  oil  six  or  eight  years  ago,  but  they  say  the  wells 
there  are  dry  already  and  they  have  to  go  back  to  farm- 
ing again  to  get  a  living.  Of  course,  if  we  could  get  a 
hundred-barrel  well  on  every  ten  acres  and  get  a  royalty 
of  $400  a  day  for  a  few  years,  it  would  help  out  nicely, 
but  the  oil  business  is  uncertain  and  short-lived;  whereas, 
to  quote  Percy,  "  the  soil  is  the  breast  of  Mother  Earth, 
from  which  her  children  must  always  draw  their  nourish- 
ment, or  perish." 

Some  have  spoken  to  Percy  about  the  coal  right,  but 
he  says  if  there  are  ten  thousand  tons  of  coal  per  acre 
under  Poorland  Farm,  he  will  save  it  for  Charles  Henry 
before  he  will  allow  anyone  else  to  take  it  out  for  less 
than  ten  cents  a  ton.  He  says  that  just  because  the 
United  States  Government  was  generous  enough  to  give 
the  settler  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  and 
foolish  enough  to  throw  in  with  it  three  million  tons  of 


346  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL 

coal  if  it  happened  to  lie  beneath,  is  no  reason  why  he 
should  sell  it  to  any  coal  company  or  coal  trust  at  the 
rate  of  ten  tons  for  one  cent,  which  is  the  same  as  ten 
dollars  per  acre  for  the  coal  right.  He  says  if  Uncle 
Sam  ever  wants  to  assume  his  rightful  ownership  of  all 
coal,  phosphate  deposits,  or  other  minerals  whose  con- 
servation and  proper  use  is  essential  to  the  continued 
prosperity  of  all  the  people,  then  our  coal  shall  be  his; 
but  if  he  does  not  want  it,  then  he  will  consider  nothing 
less  than  leasing  on  the  basis  of  a  royalty  of  ten  cents  a 
ton  to  be  paid  to  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  etc. ;  but 
even  then  he  wants  enough  coal  left  to  hold  up  the  earth, 
so  that  there  will  be  no  interference  with  the  tile  drains 
which  he  expects  sometime  to  put  down  at  an  expense 
exceeding  the  original  cost  of  the  land. 

With  much  love, 

ADELAIDE. 

P.  S.  —  Percy  sends  his  love  to  grandma  and  a  photo- 
g*aph  for  papa,  from  which  you  will  see  that  on  such 
land  as  ours  no  limestone  or  phosphate  means  no  clover. 
—  A.  W.  J. 


NOTE. — The  author  takes  this  occasion  to  say  to  the 
kind  reader  who  has  had  the  patience  and  the  necessary 
interest  in  the  stupendous  problem  now  confronting  the 
American  people,  of  devising  and  adopting  into  general 
practice  independent  systems  of  farming  that  will  restore, 
increase,  and  permanently  maintain  the  productive  power 
of  American  farm  lands, —  to  those  who  have  read  thus 
far  THE  STORY  OF  THE  SOIL  and  who  may  have 
some  desire  for  more  specific  and  more  complete  or  com- 
prehensive information  upon  the  subject, — to  all  such  he 
takes  this  occasion  to  say  that  this  volume  is  based  scien- 


Si, 

1 

s 
2 


ADVANCE  INFORMATION  347 

tifically  upon  his  text  book,  "  Soil  Fertility  and  Perma- 
nent Agriculture,"  published  by  Ginn  and  Company,  Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

This  little  book  is  intended  as  an  introduction  to  the 
subject;  the  other  may  be  classed  as  technical,  but  never- 
theless can  be  understood  by  any  one  who  gives  it  serious 
thought.  This  book  tells  the  true  story  of  the  soil,  for 
which  the  other  gives  a  thousand  proofs. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  is  here  expressed  that  even 
the  measure  of  success  thus  far  attained  on  Poorland 
Farm  has  been  possible  largely  through  the  co-operation 
of  a  beloved  brother,  Carl  Edwin,  the  man  who  does  a 
world  of  work,  ably  assisted  by  "  Adelaide." 


INDEX  AND  GLOSSARY 


Note. — In  addition  to  those 
given  below,  many  definitions 
and  explanations  will  be  found 
by  reference  to  the  pages  cited. 


Abandoned  land,  59,  110,  144, 
174,  330 

Acetic  acid  (HC2H3O2),  a 
monobasic  organic  acid. 
(In  organic  compounds 
the  hydrogen  joined  di- 
rectly to  carbon  is  not 
acid  hydrogen  and  is  not 
replaced  by  bases  in 
forming  salts.  Thus, 
potassium  acetate  is  KC2 
H3O2),  123 

Acid,  care  in  handling,  44 
denned  (see  also  acetic,  basic, 
and  compound),  47 

Acidity  measure,  139 
neutralized,  224 

Acids  liberate  plant  food,  123 

Acid  phosphate  contains,  be- 
sides sand,  clay,  and  oth- 
er impurities,  chiefly  two 
compounds;  (1)  monocal- 
cium  phosphate,  CaH4- 
(PO4)S,  an  acid  salt,  the 
acidity  being  represented 
by  the  hydrogen;  and  (2) 
calcium  sulfate,  CaSO« 
which  is  the  same  as  gyp- 
sum or  land-plaster. 
These  compounds  are 
made  from  the  trical- 
cium  phosphate,  Ca, 
(PO4)2,  contained  in  the 
raw  rock,  and  sulfuric 
acid,  H2SO«,  which  is 


added;  thus,  Cas(PO4)2  + 
2H2SO4  =  CaH4(PO4),  + 
2CaSO4,  226 
Acid  soils,  43,  266 
Acids,  sour  substances  contain- 
ing   hydrogen,    as    HC1, 
HNO3,  HjSO,,  47 
Acre   units,   137 
Active  organic  matter,  210,  220 
Adaptation  of  crop  to  soil,  151 
Adulteration  of  coffee,  183 
Aeration,  admission  of  air,  159 
Affinities,  or  bonds,  92,  93 
Agents  for  fertilizers,  225 
Agricultural  countries  compar- 
able    with     the     United 
States,  244,  245 

education,  for  all  people,  26, 
110,    198. 

history,  330 

ignorance,  198 

mathematics,  162,  252 

missionary,  21,  29 

papers,  72,   103,   129 

patriotism,  78,  81 

science,  239 
Agriculture,  347 

first  and  last,  193 

in  Europe,  240,  245 

origin  of  prosperity,  314,  323 

of  Rome,  331 

should  be  independent,  244 
Air,   composition,   87 
Alchemy  ("all  chemy"),  93 
Alfalfa  difficulties,  203 

for  bedding,  215 

hay-making,  216 

injured  by  acidity,  48 

or  corn,  216 

roots,  315 
Alkali,  denned,  47 

soils,  235 


349 


350 


INDEX 


Algebra  misused,  322 

Alligator,  167 

Aluminum  (Al),  occurrence,  24 

silicate,     hydrated,     AljSijOa 

(OH)4,    124 
American  famine  possible,  245, 

323 

America's  greatest  problem,  346 
Ammonia  (NHS),  denned,  91,  93 
Ammonification,  105,  121 
Analyses,  interpretation  of,  135, 

139 
Analysis  of  soil  possible,  173 

of  soils,  Lincoln's  view,  24,  26 
Analyze,   to  take    apart,   106 
Ancestry  or  gumption,  312 

Virginian,  38,  170 
Animal  excrements,   215 
Animals    destroy    food    values, 
118 

exhale  carbon  dioxid,  86 

destroy  organic  matter,  215, 
220 

or  plants,  121 
Apples,  soil  for,  156,  164 
Appropriations  for  soil  investi- 
gations,   110 
Arid,  dry,  235 
Army  and  navy,  cost  of,  110 
Art  and  science,  198 

of  farming,  81 
Atom,  defined,  91 
Atomic   weights,   92 
Atmospheric  pressure,  85 
Availability  of  plant  food,  222 
Auger    for    soil    investigation, 
140,  179 


Babylon,  fall  of,  110 
Bacteria,  203 

defined,  121 

nitrifying,  105 

nitrogen-fixing,  87 

produce  nitric  acid,  159 
Balanced  rations  for  plants,  107 
Bancroft's  "All  Chemy,"  93 
Bankers'  responsibility,  111,  198 
Barrel  (five  bushels),  51 
Barren  lands,  236 


Basic,  the  opposite  of  acid  (see 
also  acid  and  com- 
pound). The  terms  mon- 
obasic, dibasic,  tribasic, 
and  tetrabasic  are  used 
to  designate  the  number 
of  hydrogen  atoms  re- 
placeable by  bases  when 
salts  are  formed  from 
acids.  Compare  the 
acids,  HNOs,  H,SO«,  H8 
POu  and  the  correspond- 
ing salts,  KNO,  (salt- 
peter), NajSO4  (glauber's 
salt)  or  MgSO«  (epsom 
salt),  Na(NH4)HPO4 
(microcosmic  salt),  48, 
128,  130 

Basic  slag  phosphate  contains 
lime  and  is  thus  an  alka- 
line phosphate,  225 

Basis  of  industry,  314,  323 

Beans,  a  substitute  for  clover, 
248 

Beer  and  whiskey,  182 

Billion  for  five  million,  338 

Billions  for  corn,  339 

"Big  If,"  246 

"Big  Think,"  263 

Black  alkali,  47 

Black  clay  loam,  156,  163 

Black  loam,  156,  164 

Blue  grass,  148,  156 

Blue  grass  region,  236 

Babcock  milk  test,  342 

Bonds  (see  also  valence),  chem- 
ical, 92,  93 

Bone  phosphate  of  lime,  130 

Botany,  use  in  agriculture,  26 

Bread  earned  by  sweat  of  brow, 

172 
the  staff  of  life,  338 

Breast  of  Mother  Earth,  197 

Breathing  pores  (stomata),  84, 
87 

Bulletins  complicated,  162 

Bumper  crops,  147 

Bureau  of  soils,  influence  of,  238 
theories,   153,   160,   321 

Butter  exports  from  Denmark, 
241 


INDEX 


351 


Calcium     carbonate     (CaCO$), 

defined,  44 
for  clover,  163 
losses,   121 
or  lime,  138 

Capillary,  small  tube  or  pore. 
(The  capillary  movement 
of  moisture  in  soil  is  like 
the  rise  of  oil  in  the  lamp 
wick),  234,  235 
Carbohydrate,  denned  (see  also 

sugar  and  water),  87 
Carbonate,  defined,  44 

test  for,  44 
Carbon  cycle,  83,  86 
dioxid    (CO,),   45,   84 
disulfid  (CS2),  83 
Carbonic     acid     decomposition 
(HaCO,  =  CO,  +  H,0), 
123 

Carbonic  acid  (H2COS),  forma- 
tion, 45 

Carbonic  acid  from  roots,  159 
Carbon  in  air,  85 
in  corn,  85 
occurrence,  83 
Carloads  or  tons,  271 
Carthaginian  government,  64 
Cato's  teaching,  331 
Cattle  in  United  States,  330 
Cellulose  in  plants,  87 
Central  Basin  of  Tennessee,  236 
Centrifugal     force,     the     force 
used   to    separate    cream 
from  milk  in  the  cream 
separator,    or    to    throw 
water  out  of  a  wet  broom 
or   to    hold   water   in   a 
pail     bottom     side     up, 
when  whirled,  158 
Chamberlain   and   Terry's   hat, 

289 

Check  book  rotated,  332 
Check  plots,  270 
Chemical  action,  83,  122 

names,  easy  to  understand,  44 
Chemistry,  applied  to  farming, 

43,  82,  92 
in  soil  analysis,  26 


Chemistry,   the  foundation  sci- 
ence (see  also  acid,  acid 
phosphate,      basic,     and 
compound),  93 
Chinese   famine,  320 

save  fertility,  111,  338 
Chlorin    (Cl),  poisonous,  126 
Christ,   180 
Christian  loyalty,  181 
Cigarettes,  182 
Circle   farming,  213 
Circulation   of  plant  food,  83, 

86 
City  people  dependent,  198 

sewage  disposal,  338 
Civilization,     maintenance     of, 

110 

Class  legislation,  265 
Clay  denned,  132 
Clipping  clover,  268 
Clover  and  milk,  290 
calcium  for,  163 
compared   with  cowpeas,   75, 

100 

difficulties,  212 
fails,  beans  substituted,  248 
injured   by   acidity,  48 
or  manure,  220 
plant  food  in,  135 
Coal,  exhaustion  of,  112 
mining,  243 
rights,  345 

supplies  and  conservation,  346 
Coffee  adulteration,  183 
Collecting  soil  samples,  132,  139 
College    education,    25,    27,    79, 

128 

Columella's  history,  332 
Combining  weights,  91 
Commerical    fertilizer,    72,    91, 

94,  210 

in  systems  of  land  ruin,  331 
Composition  of  air,  87 
of  corn-belt  soil,  138 
of  matter,  44,  83,  124 
of  soil,  44,  45,  120,  123,  162, 

201,  202,  262 
of  soil  strata,  264 
Compound   (see  also  acid,  acid 
phosphate,      basic,      and 
pyrogallol).     There     are 


352 


INDEX 


three  principal  classes  of 
compounds:  First,  acids, 
which  are  sour  and  cor- 
rosive and  which  always 
contain  hydrogen,  as  hy- 
drochloric acid  (HC1), 
nitric  acid  (HNO8),  or 
sulfuric  acid  (H2SO«); 
second,  bases,  which  are 
alkaline  (the  opposite  of 
acid)  and  include  oxids 
and  hydroxids  of  metals, 
as  quicklime,  CaO;  slack- 
ed lime,  Ca(OH)j;  mag- 
nesia, MgO;  caustic  pot- 
ash, KOH;  or  caustic 
soda  (concentrated  lye), 
NaOH;  and  third,  salts, 
which  are  formed  by  the 
union  of  an  acid  and  a 
base  with  the  liberation 
of  water.  Thus,  HCt  + 
NaOH  =  NaCl  (common 
salt)  -f  H2O  (water). 
Other  compounds  not  in- 
cluded in  these  three 
great  groups  are  water, 
itself,  and  many  or- 
ganic substances,  such 
as  marsh  gas,  CH4; 
acetylene,  CsHj;  wood  al- 
cohol, CH4O;  common 
grain  alcohol,  CaH8O ; 
glycerine,  CsH8Oa;  and 
benzene,  C.H,,,  93 

Compound  and  mixture  denned, 
83 

Compound   formulas   explained, 
93 

Congressman's   advice,   167 
responsibility,  110,  173 

Conservation  of  moisture,  122 
of  resources,  339 

Control   plots,  270 

Corn  and  hogs,  341 

Corn-belt  soil  composition,  138 

Corn-belt  soils,  18 

Corn,  carbon  content,  85 

Corn  crops,  268 

crops  of  United  States,  239 
exported,  325 


Corn  for  seed,  216,  278 

growers,  217 

growth  per  day,  159 

in  Georgia,  186 

in  Illinois,  186 

largest  yield,  86 

or  alfalfa,  216 

phosphorus  required  for,  135 

record  yields,  133 

yields  in  New  England,  185 
Country    and    city    population, 
329 

schools,  82 

versus  city,  198 

Cowpeas,  compared  with  clover, 
75,  88,  90,  100 

method  of  curing,  74 
Cows  versus  Cows,  308,  342 
Criminal   tendency,    hereditary, 

114 
Crop  adaptation,  151 

needs  for  plant  food,  332 

rotation,  39,  76,  152,  234,  289 
300 

rotation  depletes  the  soil,  330 

rotation  experiments,  248 
Crops  exported,  325 

of  "Egypt,"  243 
Crop   statistics,  325,  339 

yields   decrease,  326 

yields    decrease    in    rotation, 
249 

yields   not    increased    by    in- 
crease in  population,  329 
Cultivation,  object  of,  132 

stimulates  the  soil,  122 


Danish  agriculture,  241 
Dark  Ages  possible  for  Ameri- 
ca, 113 
Davy,   Sir   Humphrey,   English 

scientist,  239 

Decay  of  organic  matter,  123 
Degeneracy,   hereditary,   114 
Demonstration   farms,  possible, 

173 

Deposits  of  phosphate,  232 
Depths  of  soil,  composition  of, 
264 


INDEX 


353 


De  Saussure,  French  scientist, 
239 

Diamond,  crystallized  carbon, 
83 

Dolomite,  CaMg(CO.)*  143 

"Dough,"  141 

Drainage,  156 

Drainage  problems,  280 

Drunkenness,  hereditary,  144 

Dugdale's  investigations  of  de- 
generacy, 114 

Dutch  farmers,  19 


E 


Earth's  breast,  the  soil,  197,  345 

Earth's  crust,  124 

Eclipse,  237 

Education,  agricultural,  for  all 

people,  26,  110,  198 
by  experience,  27 
difficulties  in,  82 
due  to  prosperity,  111 
Edwards,    Jonathan,    descend- 
ants, 114 

Effervescence,  defined,  45 
"Egypt,"  241 
"Egyptian  Empire,"  274 
Egyptian  Empire,  fall  of,  110, 

119 

Elements,  abundant,  124 
chemical,  defined,  44 
deficient  in  soil,  49,  82,  120 
essential  for  plant  food,  44, 

49,  82,  120,  315 
important  list,  92 
of  plant  food,  44,  49,  82,  120, 

315 
Endowment      for      experiment 

fields,   173 

Energy  fromxfood,  86 
Engineering,  use  of  science,  80 
English  agriculture,  240 
Erosion,  benefit  of,  51 

of  soils,  51,  235 
European  agriculture,  240,  245 
European    use    of    phosphorus, 

240 
Examples    to    prove    anything, 

168,  322 
Excrements,  human,  338 


Excreta,        poisonous,        from 

plants,  233 

Exhaustion,  soii,  30,  83 
Experiment  (see  also  investiga- 
tions) 

Experiment  fields,  possible,  173 
Experiments     at     Rothamsted, 
136,    240,    248,    251,    272, 
336 

by  farmers,  265 
for  public   benefit,   265 
in  Ohio,  228,  231,  333 
in  Pennsylvania,  76,  79,  227, 

250,  335 

in  southern  Illinois,  334 
Experiment  Station,  oldest,  136 

stations,  76,  79 

Experiment  stations,  origin,  240 
Experiments    with    raw    phos- 
phate, 225 

with  wheat  seedlings,  158 
Exporting  food-stuffs,  325 
Exporting  phosphate,  240,  337 


Factors  limiting  yields,  107,  141 
Facts,  value  of,  173,  252 
Faith,  184 

Fallow,  (1)  frequent  cultiva- 
tion without  cropping  for 
a  season,  termed  oare 
fallow;  or  (2)  plowing 
under  one  or  more  crops 
of  weeds  during  the  sea- 
son, termed  green  fallow, 
245,  248 

Fallow  in  spring,  293 
Family  tree,  38 
Famine  in  China,  320 
in  India,  172 

in  America,  possible,  245,  323 
for  millions,  286 
of  Russia,  197,  245 
postponed,  324 
Farmers'  experiments,  265 
Farmers  feed  the  world,  21 
Farmer's  fortune,  252 
Farmers'   Institutes,  285,  313 
Farmers,  Lincoln's  opinion  of, 
21 


354 


INDEX 


Farmer's  problems,  252 
Farm  labor,  82,  264 
Farm,  little,  well  tilled,  239 

manure  as  soil  stimulant,  48 

manure  limited,  343 

or  land,  146,  212,  236 

plans,  270,  277 

profits  small,  252 
Farms,  size  of  in   India,  329 
Farm  wealth,  332 
Fat  of  the  land,  33,  117 
Felspar,    potassium     aluminum 
silicate,  KAlSisO8,  a  com- 
mon mineral  in  soils,  45, 
123 

Fertility       constitutes       farm 
wealth,  332 

elements,  44,  49,  82,  120,  315 

from  food-stuffs,  240 

natural  supplies,  232 

needed  by  crops,  332 

principles  by  Hill,  327 
Fertilizer  agents,  225 

commercial,  72,  91,  94,  210 

in  land  ruin,  331 

filler,  226 

for  corn,  88 

in  Rhode  Island,  189 

manufacture,  226 

trusts,  225,  271 
Filler  in  fertilizer,  226 
First  and  last,  193 
Fishing,     an     independent     in- 
dustry,  78,  174,   198 
Fish  scrap  and  sea  weed,  244 
Food  of  man,  325 
Food-stuffs  exported,  325 
Food  values  destroyed  by  live- 
stock, 118,  324 
Forest  conservation,  339 
Formulas  of  compounds,  92 
Fortune  of  farmer,  252 
Freight  rates,  271,  277 
Funk  farm,  185 

O 

Garfield  shot,  176 
Geological  survey,  232 
Georgia  agriculture,  244 
corn,  186 


German  agriculture,  241 
Germany  and  Texas,  245 
Gilbert,  Sir  Henry,  English 

scientist,  240 
Gimlet  on  tap  root,  266 
God's  intentions,  171 
God,  source  of  life,  184 
Governmental   rights,   346 
Government  funds,  173 
Government   of   United   States, 

experimental  stage,  64 
Grain  and  potato  farming,  189, 

300 
dealers'     responsibility,     111, 

198 

farming,  118,  267 
must  be  sold,  338 
or   live-stock   farming,  337 
Grass,  effect  on  soil,  264 
Greece,  ancient,  110 
Grinding  limestone,  77 
Growth  of  corn   per   day,   159 
Growth    of    plants,    a   miracle, 

183 

Guardians  of  the  soil,  252 
Gumption  or  ancestry,  312 


"Hardpan,"  266 

Hay,  carbon  content,  85 

Hellriegel,     German     scientist, 

239 

Hill's    fertility    principles,    327 
Hindu  students,  172 
History  of  agriculture,  330 

of  railroads,  243 
Hogs  and  corn,  341 
Hoard's  lecture,  308,  342 
Horace  Greeley's  advice,  168 
"Hot  air,"  319 
Human  excrements,  111,  238 
Human  labor  on  farms,  118 
Humic  acid,  123 
Humid,  wet,  235 
Humus  and  nitrogen,  209,  220 

defined,  105 

destroyed  by  lime,  79 

slow  acting,  220 

values,  263 


INDEX 


355 


Hungarian  millet  hauled  home, 
293,  299 

Hydrated,  "watered,"  refers  to 
chemical  compounds  con- 
taining water  of  combina- 
tion. Thus  quicklime 
(CaO)  when  slacking 
takes  up  water  (H2O)  in 
accordance  with  the  equa- 
tion: CaO  +  H2O  =  Ca 
(OH)2.  The  product  if 
pure  is  dry,  for  the  water 
absorbed  is  chemically 
combined  (H — O — Ca — O 
— H),  223,  235 

Hydrated  lime  (calcium  hy- 
droxid,  less  properly  call- 
ed calcium  hydrate),  212 
silicate  (see  also  silicate),  45, 
123 

Hydrochloric  acid  (HC1),  43 

Hydrogen  (H),  occurrence,  87 

Hygroscopic  moisture  (water 
held  in  apparently  dry 
materials  39  in  air-dry 
hay  or  grain),  165 

Hypocrites,  183 

Hypothesis,  a  supposition  or 
tentative  theory,  237 


"If,"  246 

Ignorance,   from   poverty,   111 

of  agriculture,  198 
Illinois  and  Virginia  soils,  201, 
209 

corn,  134,  186 

corn  growers,  217 

experiment  station,  152 

land  value,  257 

phosphate  experiments,  230 

soil    experiments,     152,    230, 

329,  334 

Iowa   blue   grass,   148 
Independent  agriculture,  244 
India  agriculture,  172,  336 

famines,  111,  172 
Indiana  phosphate  experiments, 

228 
India's  farms,  size  of,  197 


India's  population,  197 

wages,  172 
Industry,  basis  of,  314,  323 

dependent,  173 
Infected  or  inoculated,  204 

soil,  amount  to  use,  206 
Infertility  of  soils,  153,  233 
Influence  detrimental,  238 

needed,  194,  198 
Inoculation  of  legumes,  203,  206 
Inorganic  and  organic,  210 
Insanity,    hereditary,    113 
Investigation   (see  also  experi- 
ment) 

Investigations    at    Rothamsted, 
136,  240,  248,  251,  272,  336 

in  Pennsylvania,  250 

with  raw  phosphate,  225 
Invoice,  meaning  of,  49 

of  soil  possible,  173 
Irrigation  projects,  168,  173 
Iron,  supply  inexhaustible,  82 
Italian  agriculture,  241 
Italy,  railroad  tunnel,  80 


Jonathan  Edwards'  descendants, 

114 

Jones,  F.  Allerton,  175 
Japan  clover,  203,  263 

K 

Kainit  is  a  complex  mineral  salt 
found  in  the  potash 
mines  of  Germany.  Its 
composition  is  represent- 
ed by  K2SO,MgSO4MgCl, 
6H2O.  The  commercial 
product  contains  about 
two-thirds  kainit  and 
one-third  common  salt, 
NaCl,  255 

Kentucky  soil,  237 

Key  to  prosperity,  272 

Kind   soil,  50 


Labor  on  the  farm,  264 
Lactic  acid    (HC,H6O,),  123 


356 


INDEX 


Land  abandoned,  59,  144,  154 
barren,  236 
difficulties,  244 
or  farm,  146,  212,  136 
owned  by  Virginia,  145 
Land-plaster,     native     calcium 
sulfate,  CaSO4,  177,  210, 
Land  redemption,  115,  145 
ruin,  110,  116,  173,  194,  210, 

236,  243,  329,  330 
ruin,  cause  of,  252 
ruin   encouraged,   238 
run-down  but  not  worn-out, 

335 

value  in  southern  Illinois,  257 
values  possible,  272 
Last  and  first,   193 
Latin,  92,  127,  237 
prepositions,  315 
Law,  natural,  of  soil  depletion, 

235 

of  entail,  170 
of  survival,  112 
Lawes,  Sir  John,  English  noble- 
man, 240 

Laws  to  lessen  degeneracy,  114 
Leaching   of    plant    food,    121, 

135,  235 
Legislation    needed,    110,    173, 

265,  323 
Legume  crops,  87 

crops  in  Europe,  240 
Legumes  fix  nitrogen,  87,  89 
in  pasture,  213 
in  rotation,  249 
wild,  236 

Leonardtown  loam,  154,  163 
Liberation  of  plant  food,  105, 

123,  124,  159,  229 
Liebig,     Baron     von,     German 

scientist,  239,  332 
Life,  the  great  miracle,  183 

principle,  87,  183 
Little  farm  well  tilled,  239,  329 
Lime,  210 
and  limestone,  compared,  77, 

79 

a  soil   stimulant,  78,   79 
"Lime"  in  phosphates,  131 
Lime,   hydrated    (see    also    hy- 
drated),  212,  221,  223 


Lime  or  calcium,  138 
•destroys  organic  matter  and 

dissipates  nitrogen,  224 
lost  by  leaching,  121 
Limestone,    amount    to    apply, 

143,  269 
Limestone,    CaCO»    or    CaMg 

(CO,)*  142 
cost,  77,  232,  277 
cost  of  grinding,  77,  224 
decomposed   by   acid:  CaCO» 
+    2HC1    =    CaCl,    + 
H2CO,,  45 
defined,  44 
destroys  acidity,  224 
fineness  required,  77,  224 
Limestone,     magnesian,    CaMg 

(CO8)B  142,  255 
test  for,  44 
time  to  apply,  268 
Limiting  factors  in  crop  yields, 

107,  141 

Limit  in  soil  depletion,  211 
Lincoln's  best  story,  253 
death,  loss  to  South,  59 
view  of  agriculture,  22 
Liquid  manure,  215 
Litmus    paper,    43,    46 
Live-stock  destroy  food  values, 

324 

farming,  213,  267,  337 
or  grain  farming,  337 
statistics,  330 
Living  for  the  farm,  252 
Loam,  defined,  132 
Loess,    a    windblown    material, 
constituting  the  basis  of 
the    most    valuable    and 
most    extensive    soils    in 
northern    United    States, 
154 

Love,  bread,  and  water,  88,  320 
Loyalty    to    Christ,    18 
Lumber  conservation,  339 

M 

Magnesian      limestone,     CaMg 

(CO,),,  142,  255 
Magnesium  losses,  121 
Maine  phosphate  experiments, 

227 


INDEX 


857 


Making  a  living,  252 
Man's  food,  325 
Mansions  of  the  South,  170 
Manufacture,  dependent,  194 

of  fertilizer,  226 
Manure    and    phosphate,    228, 

229,  341 

"hot"  from  horses  and  sheep, 
"cold"    from   cattle    and 
hogs,  97 
limited,  30,  43,  72,  174,  213, 

330,  343 
losses,  96 
or  clover,  220 
saving,   97,   215,  296 
supply    increased    by    phos- 
phorus, 231 
value   of,    188 
Market  gardens,  329 
Maryland   history,    154,   177 

phosphate  experiments,  226 
Massachusetts     phosphate     ex- 
periments, 227 
Mathematics    abused,   322 
in  agriculture  and  engineer- 
ing, 252 
Matter,     composition,    44,     83, 

123 

properties,  83 
McLean  County  corn,  185 
McLean  County  soil,  156,  163 
Merchant's    responsibility,    111, 

198 

Mellilotus,  204 
Mental  culture  in  agriculture, 

25 

"Millions  in  the  air,"  88 
Millions    in    the    land,    166 

starving,  172,  286 
Milk  and  clover,  290 
pails  sterilized,   207 
sanitary    production,    97 
souring  process,  123 
sugar    (C12H24O12),    123 
testing,  342 
Mineral  plant  food,  249 

plant   foods   of   greatest  im- 
portance are  phosphorus, 
potassium,    calcium    and 
magnesium,   244 
Miracles,    183 


Mixture  and  compound,   denn- 
ed, 83 

Moisture  absorption  and  reten- 
tion, 263 
conservation,    122 
separated  from  soil,  158 
Mohawk  Valley,  19 
Molecule,   denned,   92 
Morrison,  Col.   N.  B.,  243 

N 

Names   of   chemicals,   44 
National  conservation,  339 

decay,   111 

destiny  measure,  110 
Natural  law  of  soil  depletion, 

235 

Navy  and  army,  cost  of,  110 
Negro   characteristics,   58 
New   Egland   agriculture,    185, 

241,  245 

New  York  soils,  19,  305 
Nitrate    of    soda    (sodium    ni- 
trate, NaNO,),  94 
Nitric  acid,  HNO3,  122,  159 
Nitrification,  101,  103,  120 
Nitrifying  bacteria,  105,  159 
Nitrogen  accumulation,  236 

addition  to   soil,  98 

and  humus,  209 

fixation,  87,  100,  104,  204 

in   animal   products,   214 

in  clover  roots,  333 

in    grain    farming,    337 

in  live-stock  farming,  337 

in  organic   matter,  219 

in  roots,  90 

loss  by  liming,  79,  224 

losses,  79,  96,  224 

occurrence,  87 

problem,  262 

required  by  crops,  89,  333 
Nitrous  acid,  HNO»  122 
Norfolk  loam,   165 

O 

Ocean  travel,   191 
Ohio  experiments,  228,  231,  333 
phosphate    experiments,    228, 
231 


358 


INDEX 


Oil  wells,  345 

Opinions,  right  to  and  value  of, 

173 
Optimism,   119 

blind,  198 

Organic  matter,  active,  210 
accumulation,   236 
as  soil  stimulant,  48 
in  grain  farming,  337 
values,  263 

Over-stocking  a  farm,  213 
Oxalic    acid    (H2C2O4),    a   very 
strong  organic  acid  con- 
taining only  acid  hydro- 
gen (see  acetic),  123 
Oxidation,  121 

Oxygen,  indicated  by  word  end- 
ing, 44 

occurrence,  123 
supply  as  plant  food,  87,  95 


Palestine,  condition  of,  111 

length  compared,  184 
Parasites,  193,  197 
Pasturing  land,  213 
Patriotism,  78,  81,  325 
Peace  and  war,  26 
Peat  and   fertilizers,   226 
Peaty  swamp  soil,  108 
Penitentiary  work,  277 
Pennsylvania  and   Rothamsted, 

251 
investigations,  76,  79,  227,  250, 

335 

phosphate  experiments,  227 
Peonage,    enforced    service    for 

debt,  60 
Percentages,  objections  to,  135, 

137,   162 
Permanent      agriculture,      117, 

142,  347 
agriculture  of  low  grade,  51, 

118 

experiment  fields,  173 
Perrine    Brothers'    fruit    farm, 

168 

Pippin  land,  156,  164 
Phosphate,  acid  (see  acid  phos- 
phate) 


Phosphate,    amount    to    apply, 
269 

and   manure,   229,  341 

cost   of,    271 

deposits,  232,  339 

exported,  240,  327,  338 

in  grain   farming,   338 

made   available,  271 

of  lime,  130 

pays   800  per  cent..  229 

raw  rock,  to  be  fine-ground, 
225 

raw,  value  of,  225 

supplies,  232,  339 
Phosphate,  time  to  apply,  268 
"Phosphoric     acid"     explained, 

127 

Phosphorus    and   manure,   228 
cost,  232 

importance,  127 

in  animal  products,  214 

in  clover,  222 

increases   yields,   249 

in  crops,   124,  135,  332 

in  India  soils,  336 

in  sewage,   338 

in  worn-out  soil,  163 

longest  record,  249 

natural  supply,  232,  272,  339 

occurrence,  105,  124,  127,  232 

removed  in  50  years,  250 

used  in  Europe,  240 
Physical  analyses,  160,  181 

condition  of  soil,  263,  265 
Plant  excreta,  233 
Plant    food    availability,    222 

circulation,   83 

elements,  45,  82,  120,  315 
Plant  food  from  subsoil,  234 

in  clover,  135 

in  crops,  124,  135 

in  subsoil,  136 

liberation,  105,  159 

losses,  121,  135 

lost  by  leaching,  235 

natural  supplies,  104,  232,  238 

needed  by  crops,  332 

occurrence,  105 

or  soil,  136 

relations,  272 

should  be  balanced,  107 


INDEX 


359 


Plant  growth,  a  miracle,  183 

requirements,  85,  87 
Plants  or  animals,  121 
Plowing  reduced  to   the  mini- 
mum, 76 

Plows  and  soils,  263 
Poellman's  investigations  of  de- 
generacy, 114 
Poisonous  excreta  from  plants, 

233 
Poorland  Farm  rotation,  267 

soil,  262,  265,  266 
"Poor  white  trash,"  264 
Population,    country   and   city, 
329 

increase,    26,    326 
Potash  (K2O),  defined,  125 
Potassium  chlorid  (KC1),  126 

natural  supply  of  (see  also 
felspar  and  silicates'), 
272 

occurrence,  124 

or  Kalium  (K),  126 
Potato  and  grain  farming,  300 

land,  156,  164 

Potatoes,    clover,    and    wheat, 
289,  300 

fertilizer,   189 
Poverty  is  helpless,   111 
Power  required  in   tillage,  262 
"Practical"  farming,  79 
Prairie    grass,    effect    on    soil, 

264 

Prayer,  184,  285 
Preachers'     opportunity,      111, 

198 

Preaching,    187 

Press,  agricultural,  72,  103,  129 
Pressure  of  atmosphere,   85 
Principles  of  life,  87,  183 
Problem,  the  greatest,  194 

of   farmer,  252 
Profits  and  yields,  195 
Profit  in  farming  small,  252 

in    soil   building,    195 
Proof  by   example,    168,  322 
Proofs,  a  thousand,  347 
Prosperity  dependent  on  agri- 
culture, 314,  323 

guardian  of,  252 
Prosperity's  key,  272 


Prosperity  makes  general  edu- 
cation possible,  111 
Public   experiments,   265 
Pumpkins,    171,   312 
Purchase    carload    lots,   271 
Pyrogallol,  also  called  pyrogal- 
lic    acid,    or    trihydroxy 
benzene,  C,HS(OH)S, 

benzene  being  C8H8,  re- 
lated to  phenol,  or  car- 
bolic acid,  C8H5OH, 
which  is  monohydroxy 
benzene  (see  also  com- 
pound), 234 

R 

Railroad  cooperation,  271,  272 
history,  243 
Tunnel,  80 

Rebellion  in  Maryland,  177 
Redemption  of  land,  115,  145 
Reserves  of  nitrogen,  209 
Residual  soil,  formed  in  place 
by  disintegration  of  rock, 
219 

Residues  resistant  to  decay,  209 
Resources,  conservation  of,  339 
Responsibility  for  agriculture, 

111,  198,  252,  323 
of  statesmen,  173,  198 
Reverted  phosphate  is  made  by 
allowing     soluble     mono- 
calcium  phosphate,  CaH4 
(PO,).,,  to  revert  to  the 
dicalcium  phosphate,  Ca2 
H2(PO4)2,  or  to  the  tri- 
calcium    phosphate,     Cag 
(PO4)M   by   contact  with 
lime;    thus:    CaH4(PO4), 
+  CaO  =  Ca2H2(PO4)2  , 
+  H,O,    or    CaH4(PO4), 
+  2CaO  =  Caa(PO4)2  + 
2H2O,  227 
Rhode  Island  agriculture,  183 

phosphate  experiments,  226 
Riverton  Lime  Company,   Riv- 

erton,  Va.,  314 
Robbing  the  soil,  195 
Robertson  in  China,  320 
Roger  Williams,  186 
Roman  agriculture,  331 


360 


INDEX 


Rome,  fall  of,  110 

Roman  Republic,  64 

Roots,  alfalfa  and  Greek,  315 

exhale  carbonic  acid,  159 
Root  tubercles,  87 
Rotation  benefits,  260 

does    not   maintain    fertility, 
249,  250 

long  continued,  240 

of  check  book,  332 

of  crops,  39,  76,  152,  234 

of    crops    in    grain-farming, 
267,  300,  337 

of  crops,  Terry's,  289,  300 

on  Poorland  Farm,  267 
Rothamsted   and  Pennsylvania, 
251 

experiment  station,  136,  248 

investigations,    136,   240,  248, 
251,  272,  336 

soil  and  subsoil,  136 
Run-down   land,  not  worn-out, 

210,    335 
Russian  agriculture,  336 

agricultural  statistics,  197 

famines,  111,  245 

wheat  yields,  245 


S 


Salt,    sodium   chlorid    (Nad), 

126 

Sanitary  milk  production,  97 
Saving  manure,  296 
Sawdust   for  bedding,   296 
Science,      agricultural,      origin, 
239 

and  art,  198 

and   work,  309 

applied  to   engineering,  80 

applied    to    farming,    43,    82, 
92 

meaning  of,  237 
Scientific   facts  in  agriculture, 
239 

farming  rare,  198 
Scrub  stock,  210 
Seaweed  and  fish  scrap,  244 
Seaweed  for  manure,  189 
Secor  and  the  gimlet,  266 


Secretary  of  agriculture,  147 

Seed  corn,  216,  278 

Seed  selection,  332 

Semi  means  half,  235 

Separates  of  soil,  160 

Sewage  disposal,  338 

Sheep  do  not  produce  fertility, 

212 

Silicates  constitute  the  most 
common  minerals  in  the 
soil.  Felspar  and  mica 
are  especially  abundant. 
Common  felspar  is  potas- 
sium aluminum  silicate 
(KA1  SUOg).  The  miner- 
al crysolite  is  magnesium 
iron  silicate  (MgFeSiO4), 
a  double  salt  of  the  tet- 
rabasic  silicic  acid  H4 
SiO«  or  Si  (OH)4.  True 
clay  (Kaolin)  is  hydrat- 
ed  aluminum  silicate,  Al, 
SijACOH)*,  45,  123 
Silicon  (Si),  123,  124 

dioxid   (SiO2),  123 
Silt,  defined,  132 
Simplon  railroad  tunnel,  80 
Sin,  unpardonable,  323 
Sincere,  218,  311 
Sisson's  prayer,  285 
Slag  phosphate,  225,  240 
Soil  acidity,  measure,  139 
in  southern  Illinois,  266 
neutralized,  224 
test  for,  43 

Soil  affected  by  vegetation,  264 
Soil  analysis,  158,  163 
meaning  of,  49,  221 
time  required,  49 
Soil  composition,  44,  45,  120 

Virginia,  254 
Soil   conservation,  339 
Soil  depletion,  30,  83,  329 
by  pasturing,  214 
in  nature,  235 
the  limit,  211 
Soil,  earth's  breast,  197 
erosion,  51,  235 
experiments,   oldest,   136 
Soil  experiments,  Pennsylvania, 
76,  79,  227,  250,  335 


INDEX 


361 


Soil  experiments,  Rothamsted, 
136,  240,  248,  251,  273, 
336 

State  work,  265 
"Soil  Fertility  and  Permanent 

Agriculture,"  347 
Soil  fertility  by  Hill,  327 

theories,    235,   237,  321 

theorists,  246 
Soil  guardians,  198,  252 

improvement,  203,  208 

infected,  amount  to  use,  206 

investigations    in    Ohio,    228, 
231,  333 

investigations  possible,  173 

invoice,  importance  of,  49,  222 

maps,  149,  150 

of  corn  belt,  composition,  138 

of  New  York,  305 

or  plant  food,  136 

robbery,  195 

robbing,  cause  of,  252 
Soils  and  plows,  263 

injured  by  fertilizers,  210 

of  India,  336 

of  Virginia,  201,  202,  208 

run-down,  210 
Soil  samples  collected,  132,  139 

southern   Illinois,   262 

stimulants,  111,  122,  194,  210 

strata,    composition   of,    264 

study  an  hour  a  day,  198 

surveys  possible,  173 

the  breast  of  Mother  Earth, 
345 

treatment  agreed  upon,  270 

types,  132,  140 

water,  234 

weight  of,  140 
South  Carolina  corn  yields,  86, 

88 
Southern    Illinois    experiments, 

334 

Spoliation  of  land,  191 
Spring  fallow,  293 
Stability,  297,  309 
Staff  of  life,  338 
Starch  in  plants,  87 
Starving  millions,  286 
State  experiments  with  soil,  265 

ownership  of  land,  145 


Statesmen  not  in  Congress,  323 
Statesmen's   responsibility,   173, 

193,  252,  323 
Sterilize  milk  pails,  207 
Stimulating  the   soil,   111,   194, 

210 

Story  of  Lincoln,  253 
Strata  of  soil,  composition  of, 

264 

Study  an  hour  a  day,  198 
Subsoil,  plant  food,  136,  234 

residual,  219 

Sugar   (C11HjBOu)f  83,  87 
beets,  241 

exports  from  Germany,  241 
Sulfur  cycle,  84,  120 

dioxid  (SO2),  84 
Sulfuric     acid     (H2SO«),    also 
called    "oil    of    vitriol," 
226 

Swearing,  180 
Sweet  clover,  204 
Switzerland  railroad  tunnel,  80 
Symbiosis  (mutual  helpfulness), 

87 

Symbols,  denned,  92,  127 
Synthesize,  to  put  together,  106 

T 

Tariff  benefits,   253 

Tartaric  acid   (H2C«H«O0),  123 

Taxes  on  land,  176 

Teachers'     responsibility,     193, 

198 

Telephone  and  miracle,  184 
"Ten  Acres  Enough,"  329 
Tennessee  "Barrens,"  236 

soils,  236 
"Terry  Act,"  341 

in  tillage,  293,  303 
Terry's  address,  287 

hat,  289 

rotation,  289,  300 
Test   for   limestone,   43 

for   soil   acidity,  43 
Texas  and  Germany,  245 
Theories    of    Bureau    of    Soils, 
321 

of  soil  fertility,  210,  233,  321 
Theorists,   237,   246 

forsake  data,  246,  248 


362 


INDEX 


Thousand  proofs,  347 

Tides,  189 

Tile  drainage,  156 

effect  of,  194 

problems,  346 
Tillage,  294,  303,  341 

benefits,  122 

depletes  the  soil,  329 

is  not  manure,  329 

power  required,  263 

"Terry  Act,"  293,  303 
Timber   conservation,  339 
Tobacco  culture,  330 

farming,  176 

habits,  182 

juice,  180 
"Tommy  rot,"  171 
Toxic  (poisonous),  234 
Tribasic,    capable    of    holding 
three    basic    bonds,    128, 
130 

Trillions  in  coal,  339 
Truck  farming,  329 
Trusts,   fertilizer,  225,  271 
Trustees  of  University,  316 
Tubercles  on  legumes,  87,  205, 

20'7 

Tunnel,  Simplon,  80 
Types  of  soil,  132,  140 

U 

Ulmic  acid,  123 
Uncle  Sam's  rights,  346 
United  States  government,  ex- 
perimental stage,  64 
University  trustees,  316     . 


Valence,  or  bonds,  92,  93 
Valence  signifies  the  number  of 
bonds  of  the  chemical 
atom.  Thus,  potassium  is 
univalent,  has  one  bond, 
or  a  valence  of  one;  cal- 
cium (Ca=  or  — Ca — )  is 
bivalent,  has  two  bonds, 
or  a  valence  of  two;  nit- 
rogen is  trivalent  (N=), 
as  in  ammonia,  NH3  or  in 
potassium  nitrite,  KNO» 


or      K—  O—  N=O),      or 
pentavalent     (=N=:,    in 
nitric     acid,     HNO3,     or 
H—  O—  N=OS)  ;  and  car- 
bon        is         tetravalent 
(=C=>,  in  carbon  dioxid, 
COz,  or  O=C=O),  93 
Van  Hise  on  phosphates,  339 
Varro's   teaching,   331 
Virgil's  Georgics,  332 
Virginia  history,  39,   170 
land  difficulties,  244 
soil,  composition,  254 
soils,  155,  164,  201,  202,  208 
to  New  England,  167 


Wages  in  India,  172 
War  and  peace,  26 
Washington  packed  flour,  170 
Washington's  monument,  166 
Washington   theories,  237 
Water,  composition,  87,  93 

of  soil,  234 
Wealth,  greatest  source  of,  194 

of  farm,  332 

uncertainty  of,  118 
Weight  of  soil,  140 
Westover  soil,  42 
"Westward  ho!"  217 
Wireless  message,  184 
Wheat  exported,  325 

on  treated  land,  343 

phosphorus   for,  177 

record  yields,  136 

seedlings,  158 

•weight  per   bushel,   89 

yields  in  England,  240 

yields   of   Russia,  245 
"White   trash,"  264 
Woman's   character,    198 
Word  of  God,  184 
Work  and  science,  309 
Working  without  knowledge,  24, 

82 

Worn-out   farms,  30,   154,   163, 
169,  333 


Yellow  corn,  178 

Yield,  limiting  factors,  107,  141 

Yields  and  profits,  195 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


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